Nuvola Player 1.0 (Stable) Released

Nuvola Player (previously Google Music Frame) is a music player especially designed for cloud music. Even though it's only a "frame", it's a great application that comes with features such as Ubuntu Sound Menu (mpris2 - also works with some GNOME Shell extensions) support, notifications, multimedia keys, Unity quicklists and many extra features thanks to user scripts (like last.fm scrobbling for Google Music, etc.).

Nuvola Player got Grooveshark, Hype Machine and 8tracks support recently (in addition to Google Music) and we've talked about this already, but if you like using stable releases, you'll be glad to know that Nuvola Player 1.0 has finally been released.

Other changes in Nuvola Player 1.0: 

• a new menu bar and reworked tool bar (and you can select to show them both or only one of them)
• support for SOCKS proxy servers
• various configuration options like: turn off notifications, visibility of tray icon, close button behavior, simple settings for user scripts

You can see the official release notes, here.

Install Nuvola Player (stable) in Ubuntu

If you've added the Nuvola Beta or Unstable PPA and want to install Nuvola 1.0 stable, disable them and remove Nuvola, then use the commands below (or use PPA Purge).

To add the Nuvola Stable PPA and install Nuvola Player (stable) in Ubuntu, use the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nuvola-player-builders/stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nuvolaplayer

For Fedora, see: How To Install Nuvola Player (Ex Google Music Frame) In Fedora.

To get the code, report bugs and so on, check out Nuvola Player @ Launchpad.

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Google Music Frame Renamed To Nuvola Player, Grooveshark (Free) Support Added To The Latest Development Builds

Google Music Frame used to be an application that integrates Google Music in Ubuntu, providing sound menu support, notifications, multimedia keys and even last.fm scrobbling.

But the application has evolved and the latest development builds work with Grooveshark too. Because it now supports two music services (more cloud music services might be added in the future), Google Music Frame has been renamed to "Nuvola Player".

Since the Grooveshark integration is very new, it doesn't support all the features that were available for Google Music yet: for instance, you can't use user scripts yet (so no last.fm scrobbling for now) Last.fm scrobbling support is actually built into Grooveshark now (as long as you log in).

But there's something very cool about the Grooveshark support: because the website is embedded into the application, you don't need a Grooveshark paid subscription to use it (you don't even need to create an account if you don't want to)! Also, the Ubuntu Sound Menu / GNOME Shell Mediaplayer integration,  multimedia keys or notifications already work for Grooveshark.

(Google Music Frame / Nuvola Player in Ubuntu 11.10 with GNOME Shell Mediaplayer extension)

Grooveshark support should land in Nuvola PLayer 0.4, but if you want to try it in Ubuntu already, you can install the latest Nuvola development build from its (new) unstable PPA - available for Ubuntu Lucid, Maverick, Natty, Oneiric and Precise:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:nuvola-player-builders/unstable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install nuvolaplayer

To install Nuvola / Google Music Frame in Fedora, see our previous post (note: not tested with the latest dev builds): How To Install Google Music Frame In Fedora.

Switching between Google Music / Grooveshark can be done by clicking the "Switch service" button on top:

If you encounter bugs, report them @ Launchpad.

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How To Install Nuvola Player (Ex Google Music Frame) In Fedora

Google Music is a service that allows you to upload up to 20,000 songs which you can then listen from any computer and even your phone, for free (it currently only works in the US and requires an invitation which you can request from here).

Google Music Frame was created to make it easier to control Google Music via the Ubuntu Sound Menu or multimedia keys, comes with user scripts support (so you can add last.fm support among others), notifications and more.

Even though Google Music Frame was initially built to only work with the Ubuntu Sound Menu, later on, the Ubuntu Sound Menu dependency was removed and it can now run on non-Ubuntu systems too. Here's a screenshot with Google Music Frame running in Fedora 15 (and with a tweaked Media Player Shell extension that works with Google Music Frame):

Update: Google Music Frame has been renamed to Nuvola Player and now supports other services too, like Grooveshark, etc.

So here is how to install Nuvola Player in Fedora (tested in Fedora 15) and how to install and tweak the Gnome Shell Media Player extension to work with Nuvola Player:

Install Nuvola Player (previously Google Music Frame) in Fedora

1. Install the required dependencies:

sudo yum install gcc glib2-devel libgee-devel libsoup-devel gtk2-devel webkitgtk-devel python vala libnotify-devel libX11-devel unique-devel bzr

Also, make sure Adobe Flash player is installed and working. For more info, see THIS page.


2. Get the Nuvola Player code via BZR and compile it:

cd
bzr branch lp:google-music-frame
cd google-music-frame
./waf configure
./waf build
sudo ./waf install

At this point, Nuvola Player should be working so you can launch it from the menu.

Optional: Install Media Player GNOME Shell extension

If you haven't installed the Media Player GNOME Shell extension, you can do it (either in Fedora or Ubuntu) using the commands below:

- For GNOME Shell 3.0.x

cd
git clone https://github.com/eonpatapon/gnome-shell-extensions-mediaplayer.git
cd gnome-shell-extensions-mediaplayer
./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr
make
sudo make install

- For GNOME Shell 3.1.x+:

cd
git clone https://github.com/eonpatapon/gnome-shell-extensions-mediaplayer.git
cd gnome-shell-extensions-mediaplayer
git checkout 3.2
./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr
make
sudo make install

And then restart GNOME Shell.

The GNOME Shell Media Player extension only shows up when you open a supported music player so you'll have to run Nuvola Player for it to work.

For Last.fm support, see THIS post.

Nuvola Player installation via le-libriste.fr and Google+

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Google Music Frame (Nuvola Player) Gets Last.fm, Multimedia Keys Support

Google Music Frame, an an application that integrates Google Music in the Ubuntu sound menu and adds NotifyOSD notifications got two new very important features in the latest daily PPA builds: multimedia keys support and Last.fm scrobbling (thanks to an user script that you must install manually).

Also, the daily builds PPA now provides packages for Ubuntu 10.10 Maverick Meerkat and 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot too. Soon, it will also support Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx.

How to enable Last.fm scrobbling in Nuvola Player (For Google Music)

Because setting up Last.fm scrobbling in Google Music Frame / Nuvola Player for Google Music is a bit difficult, I though I'd let you know the exact steps to get it working:

1. Download the user script from here, rename it to "lastfm.js", then open Nuvola Player, go to Options > Preferences > User Scripts and click the "Open user scripts directory" button - copy lastfm.js to the folder that opens in Nautilus.

2. On the same User Scripts tab in Nuvola Player, under "Comma-separated list of user scripts enabled for Google Music", enter: "lastfm", then click Close and restart Nuvola Player.

3. At the top of the Nuvola Player window you should see a new link that says "Last.fm Requires Authentication" - click this link and allow the user script access to your Last.fm account. In my test, an empty popup was displayed after this step - if this occurs, simply close it and you should be redirected back to Google Music.

If everything went fine, you should see a Last.fm link and icon next to your email (upper right corner).

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Integrate Google Music With Ubuntu Sound Menu / Notifications

Google Music is a service that allows you to upload up to 20,000 songs which you can then listen from any computer and even your phone, for free. Google Music is only available in the US for now and requires an invitation (you can request an invite from its main page).

While the Google Music Manager is available for Linux, the service uses a web interface for playing the songs, so there is no desktop integration. But you can get Ubuntu Sound Menu integration and NotifyOSD notifications thanks to an application called Google Music Frame:

Google Music Frame runs Google Music web interface in its own window and provides integration with Ubuntu (sound menu and notifications). It also remembers last session and the current view (album, genre list, etc.).

According to a bug report, it seems the application will also get support for multimedia keys in the future.

To install Google Music Frame (only available for Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal), use the commands below:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:janousek.jiri/google-music-frame-releases 

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install google-music-frame

There's also a daily builds PPA for those who like to try new feature faster (but it's not stable). The daily builds PPA also provides Ubuntu 11.10 Oneiric Ocelot packages.

If you encounter any bugs, report them @ Launchpad.

Thanks to Jiří for the tip!

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