Labels

[carlhye]

MA 2.10 — Synthesized from Marvin/Carl meeting notes, June 5 2026

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Problem statement

Music Assistant has no way for users to organize music around personal use cases. There's no "listen later", no ability to flag music for a specific occasion, and no lightweight personal curation layer outside of playlists (which are more permanent). Users who want to bookmark music for later or organize listening around events have no native tool to do this. Dedicated features like "listen later" would be too narrow; what's needed is a flexible labeling system that users can shape to their own needs.

MA's vision commits to being extensible — "if you have a need, we have you covered" — and to conveying emotion — "listening to music is also emotional." Personal curation is one of the most natural ways those two pillars intersect: a label called "bbq summer 26" or "late night focus" isn't just organization, it's an emotional artifact. Without a labeling system, MA leaves this space entirely to playlists, which are too permanent and too structured for casual, moment-driven curation. This bet delivers the lightweight layer that turns MA from a playback tool into a personal music companion.

Community signals

• Automation to add to playlist — User trying to build a workaround automation to add a currently playing track to a local playlist; no native quick-add exists. The workaround complexity signals unmet demand for a simpler first-party mechanism.
• possibility to save current queue as playlist — Direct proxy for "listen later": users want to capture and persist what they're currently listening to. Open since 2023 with no resolution.
• Support for star ratings — Signals demand for personal music organization beyond favorites; users from Plex, Apple Music, and DLNA sources expect a personal curation layer. Open since 2024.

Scope & Boundaries

In scope

• Users can create custom labels (e.g. "listen later", "bbq 2026", "deep focus")
• Labels can be applied to tracks, albums, and artists
• Labels are treated as first-class media items: they can be played, added to shortcuts, and appear in the navigation
• A default "Listen Later" label ships out of the box
• The system is called labels (not tags — avoid collision with file system metadata tags)

Not in scope

• Shared/collaborative labels across users
• Label-based smart playlists or dynamic queues (possible follow-on)
• Genre system changes — labels are additive, not a replacement

Foreseen solution

1. Add a label management section in user settings (create, rename, delete)
2. Add a "label" action to the context menu on tracks, albums, and artists
3. Labels appear as playable items in the library sidebar alongside playlists and genres
4. Labels can be pinned as shortcuts in the player/home area
5. Ship with a default "Listen Later" label pre-created for all users

Risks & open questions

• How do labels interact with multi-user setups? Are labels per-user or system-wide?
• Label data needs to persist somewhere — what's the storage model? (local DB, or tied to MA server state?)
• How are labels surfaced on provider content the user doesn't own? (e.g. labelling a track from Apple Music that isn't in local library)
• Edge case: what happens when a labelled item is removed from a provider or library?

Appetite

Medium. The data model and storage layer are the main unknowns; the UI additions are manageable.

Execution issues

No response

Decision log

Date	Decision	Outcome
2026-06-05	"Labels" chosen as the name	Avoids confusion with file system tags
2026-06-05	Labels should be playable media items, not just organizational tags	Agreed
2026-06-23	Published to GitHub	#205