Vynl: Your Music, Your Rules, Your AI DJ

Why We Built This

Spotify costs $120/year and you own nothing. They track what you listen to, sell your data, and remove songs from your library without warning. You're renting access to music you already paid for.

Plex and Jellyfin exist, but they're clunky. No AI features, no voice control, interfaces that feel 10 years old. You self-host for privacy, but the UX makes you miss Spotify.

We wanted both. Full privacy and modern features. Your music, your server, your rules — but with the polish and intelligence of a modern streaming service.

What Vynl Does

Voice DJ

"Hey Siri, play something energetic" → Vynl analyzes your library, picks high-energy tracks, creates a dynamic playlist. Works with Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant — natural language commands via your home automation.

Smart Playlists

AI-generated mixes based on mood, genre, activity, or time of day. "Morning commute" vs "late night focus" get different vibes, automatically. No manual curation needed.

Party Mode

Guests scan a QR code → request songs → queue voting. Auto-mixing prevents awkward silence. No app install required. Perfect for gatherings.

Karaoke Mode

Lyrics display, vocal removal, pitch shifting. Turn any song in your library into karaoke. No separate track files needed — AI does the vocal separation in real-time.

Complete Privacy

Your music files stay on your hardware. Vynl never phones home. No tracking, no analytics, no telemetry. Want remote access? Use Tailscale VPN — your music, your network, zero cloud dependency.

Architecture

Vynl is a modern web app built with Next.js, TypeScript, and Tailwind CSS. Backend handles music file indexing, metadata management, and AI features. Frontend is a responsive UI that works on desktop, tablet, and mobile.

Tech Stack:

• Next.js 15 + TypeScript for the web app
• FFmpeg for audio processing (transcoding, vocal removal)
• SQLite for library metadata
• Local LLM for voice command parsing
• Tailscale for secure remote access (optional)

Runs in Docker or natively on macOS/Linux/Windows. Needs ~1GB RAM, any modern CPU. Storage scales with your music library (usually 50-500GB).

Getting Started

Deploy Vynl in three steps:

1. Clone the repo: git clone https://github.com/48Nauts-Operator/vynl-app
2. Point to your music: Edit docker-compose.yml to mount your music folder
3. Start it: docker-compose up -d

Open http://localhost:3000 → Vynl scans your library → start listening.

Full docs at vynl.music/docs.

Mobile App (Premium)

The web app works on mobile browsers, but we're building native iOS/Android apps with:

• Offline sync (cache music for flights, road trips)
• Background playback + lock screen controls
• CarPlay / Android Auto integration
• Shazam integration (identify songs → add to library)

Pricing: Free for self-hosted web app. Premium tier ($3/month) unlocks mobile companion apps. Fair deal — you keep your privacy, we keep the lights on.

Open Source

Vynl is MIT licensed. Fork it, modify it, self-host it, sell hosted versions — we don't care. Your music, your server, your business model.

We're not trying to build a SaaS empire. We wanted a better music server for ourselves, built it with AI agents, and decided to share it.

What's Next

Vynl is live and usable today. We're continuing to build:

• Mobile apps: Native iOS/Android with offline sync
• Social features: Share playlists, collaborative queues
• Smart mixes: Better AI-generated playlists (mood, activity, time-aware)
• Integrations: Last.fm scrobbling, Spotify import

This is the first product we've shipped at 48nauts. Not a demo, not a proof-of-concept — a real, production-ready system we use every day.

More products coming. All open source. All built in public.