User:Jeffrey Barish/sandbox

Wax
	A screenshot of Wax in Select mode with a play queue Wax in Select mode
Original author(s)	Jeffrey Barish
Developer(s)	Jeffrey Barish
Stable release	1.0.3 / 2 November 2024
Written in	Python (PyGObject) and GTK Widget toolkit
Operating system	Linux
Type	Audio player
License	MIT

Wax is a free and open-source audio player and cataloging program. It is different from other music software in three important ways. First, the fundamental unit for entries in the catalog is a “work”, not a track. A work is usually a collection of tracks. It can encapsulate whatever tracks you choose. In pop music, a work can be an album. For symphonic music, a work can be a single symphony, even when the tracks come from a CD with more than one symphony. For operas, a work can be a single opera even when the tracks come from multiple CDs. Music collectors usually think in terms of works, so a music manager that supports the concept makes operation more natural.

The second distinguishing characteristic of Wax is that genres are fundamental to the organization of a collection rather than a mere attribute of a track. Wax recognizes that the ideal way to catalog works varies by genre. For example, symphonic works can be cataloged using the metadata keys composer, work, conductor; shows can be cataloged with show, composer, lyricist; and pop with group and title. Users decide what genres best characterize subsets of their collection, and for each genre users decide how many keys and what keys to assign to the genre.

Finally, Wax tightly integrates three functions: cataloging, selecting, and playing works. With Wax, users can start playing a work as soon as they have specified a minimum set of metadata. Users can supplement or modify the metadata while listening to music, and any changes that they make to the metadata are immediately reflected in the display.

Wax is written in Python and utilizes the GStreamer media framework.