Lidarr
Automate the management and downloading of music collections.
Lidarr is an open-source application that automates the management and downloading of music libraries. If you’re running a homelab or DIY media server, Lidarr fits right in, handling music collections in a similar way that Sonarr manages TV shows and Radarr manages movies. It integrates well with these other ARR apps, creating a streamlined media automation setup.
Key Features
Lidarr monitors your music library for missing albums, automatically searching for new releases and downloading them from various indexers. With Lidarr, you no longer need to manually search for or download new albums—just set your preferences and let Lidarr do the heavy lifting.
It supports custom quality profiles, allowing you to control the bitrate, format, and other parameters of your music downloads. You can choose to download lossless formats like FLAC or compressed formats like MP3, depending on your storage and playback requirements.
Music Management and Automation
Lidarr automatically searches for new albums based on your selected artists. You can add artists to your library, and Lidarr will monitor them for future releases, downloading them when available. For albums you already have, Lidarr checks for missing tracks or better quality versions and replaces them as needed.
Like Radarr and Sonarr, Lidarr can interact with torrent and Usenet clients to automate the downloading process. It keeps your music organized by automatically renaming and sorting albums into the correct folder structure, based on your preferences.
Metadata and Organization
Lidarr scrapes metadata for your albums and tracks, pulling in cover art, artist information, and release details from sources like MusicBrainz and TheAudioDB. This metadata ensures that your music library is well-organized and easy to navigate, especially when integrated with media servers like Plex, Jellyfin, or Emby.
The automatic renaming feature ensures that all your albums follow a consistent naming convention, making it easy to manage large libraries and preventing duplicates or poorly named files.
Advanced Search and Filters
Lidarr supports advanced search filters for music downloads. You can prioritize certain release groups or exclude specific formats or bitrates. This allows homelab users to fine-tune their music automation system, ensuring that Lidarr downloads exactly what they need.
It also allows you to configure automatic upgrades for albums, so if a better-quality version is released later (e.g., an upgrade from MP3 to FLAC), Lidarr can automatically replace the existing files.
Notifications and Monitoring
Lidarr offers a variety of notification options, keeping you informed about new downloads, missing files, or other issues. You can configure Lidarr to send notifications via Discord, Slack, Pushover, or other services when albums are added or updated.
If you’re into metrics, Lidarr also includes a Prometheus metrics endpoint, making it easy to monitor its performance or track how often it downloads or upgrades albums. A Grafana dashboard is available for visualization of music collection changes over time.
Simple Setup, Powerful Customization
Lidarr is easy to set up and runs on multiple platforms including Docker, Windows, macOS, and Linux. While the user interface is straightforward, advanced users can dig deep into custom settings for download clients, file organization, and quality preferences.
Whether you’re managing a small personal music library or a vast collection, Lidarr’s automation and customization options make it a powerful tool for homelab music enthusiasts.
Conclusion
Lidarr simplifies the process of managing a music collection, automating everything from searching for new releases to ensuring your library is up-to-date and well-organized. If you’re already using Sonarr or Radarr in your homelab, Lidarr is the perfect companion for managing your music collection in the same automated, hands-off way.