Photo: John Biggs / Gizmodo
Suggested products: Mac Mini, Samsung T5 SSD
By now, you’ve probably moved most of your music to the streaming service of your choice. Its almost ubiquitous use on almost any device you could want, plus the ability to play any song your heart desires in just a few clicks, make it the easiest way to get a good tune going.
However, these services are not without their flaws. The cost of monthly subscriptions can add up quickly, services may be missing an album or two from your catalog, frequent UI and feature changes can be frustrating, problems with paying artistand there is the potential Data protection and environmental concerns. Whatever your concerns about streaming music, it’s worth noting that you have options. Among them if you have an old computer like one Mac Mini lying around is to turn it into a self-hosted Plex server and stream your own library.
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If you’ve never heard of it PlexIt is a media server client that allows you to easily host all of your movies, TV shows, songs, audiobooks and photos for access over your network. There’s also a Premium plan that lets you turn your server into a personal streaming service that you can access from anywhere with an internet connection. Just run it from any computer that meets the minimum requirements and you’ll have all of your favorite media on hand in no time.
Setup is pretty easy too. First, download Plex Media Server from the website Company websiteand make sure to move the app to your Mac’s Applications folder (you should be prompted to do this automatically, but just in case). Once it’s up and running, go to the Plex logo on the right side of your menu bar and click “Open on Login” to ensure your server stays operational in the event of an accidental restart or power outage.
From there, you’ll need to add your media to your Plex library. I recommend storing these on an external SSD this one from Samsungto hold onto on the go if your Plex adventure is unsuccessful.
G / O Media can receive a commission
G / O Media can receive a commission
After you’ve tidied up your library nicely, the last step is to get that Plex apps to other devices that you want to stream your media to. There are apps for Android, iOS, pretty much every streaming box you can hope for, as well as Xbox and PlayStation, so you can access your media from just about anything with one screen. I also like this third party app. prologThis is designed for playing audiobook files from your Plex server and has features like voice amplification, sleep timer, bookmarks and the ability to speed up your audio.
The only downside is that without Plex’s $ 5 a month subscription you won’t be able to download media for offline use, but you can still stream all right. However, if you jump into this subscription, you can record live TV, stream it in 4K, and get $ 1 off a Tidal subscription. Sure, you’re doing all of this to invest in your own streaming library, but if you want to try out an album before hitting that buy button, the discount can come in handy.
While setting up your own Plex server is an easy undertaking and won’t cost you too much if you already have a replacement computer that is gathering dust. Unlike streaming, you have to pay for every album, audiobook, movie, or TV show that you want to throw on your server. That adds up over time, but if you cut back on streaming services, that money could go into buying an album or movie each month to get things rolling. As long as you’re ready for that trip, the self-hosted lifestyle frees you from the hassles of streaming subscription, and Plex makes this an easy weekend project.