Syncing Your Android Device with Songbird Using MSC

Back in the summer I posted a tutorial on using the FolderSync add-on for the Songbird music player as a way to synchronize music to your Android device. If you are using a previous version of Songbird (earlier than 1.4), that post is probably the best place to start.

A new and improved version of Songbird is now available. The new release has a completely new look, but more importantly for Android users, has a new option for syncing music to your device: the MSC Add-on. This is probably the closest thing Android user now have to the iTunes experience for managing music on your device.

If you haven't seen it yet, the new Songbird look is quite impressive (this is the Purple Rain feather):

Even more impressive is how easy the new synchronization option is to implement and configure.

Install Songbird 1.4 

Install Songbird 1.4.3 if you have not already (you must have Songbird 1.4 or higher). During the installation, the MSC Add-on should appear as a recommended extension.

If you want to verify that the extension is already installed, you can select Add-Ons from the Tools menu. If you do not see MSC Device Support listed, click the link on the lower right of the screen labeled Get Extensions. Enter MSC in the search box on the top right of the screen.

On the search results page, locate the entry labeled MSC Device Support. You should see a download button on the right side of the screen, click this button to begin the installation process:

Click Install Now. Once the installation is finished, you will be prompted to restart Songbird:

Connect Your Android Device

Once you restart Songbird, you can plug your Android device into your computer. Pull down the notification bar and select the USB Device Connected alert, then tap  Mount on your device when prompted; this will enable USB storage mode.

At this point, you should see your device in the left frame of the Songbird window. The first time you connect your device Songbird will prompt you for a name.

Create or Manage Playlists

If you are like me and have a large music library and a small SD card, you will want to only sync specific content. Instead of manually dragging music to the phone while connected, this is what I recommend:

Configure Device Options

Now, select your Android device on the left side of the screen, you will see something like the following:

To limit your synchronized content, click the radio button labeled Selected playlists, then place a check next to each playlist you want to synchronize to your phone; click Save.

There are options to format your SD card and perform a device repair on the Tools tab. I haven't tried either option, and I wouldn't recommend it: there is no guide that explains these options (that I can find), and although the format option is self-explanatory, it's difficult to say what the second option would do to your device.

The Settings tab has some additional options:

You can limit the amount of space used for music on the card to prevent it from becoming full. You can also control what the folder structure looks like for music on your device, the default configuration uses the format Artist\Album\Track.

Finally, there are three controls on the upper right hand side of the screen:

The first one will display information about the current device:

The second button will eject your device so it can be safely removed from your computer. The last button will perform a manual sync (required if you disable automatic syncing). If you have automatic synchronization, Songbird will immediately begin a sync every time you connect your device.

By comparison to the previous method, this is an easier and faster solution, and it's certainly a testament to the rapid evolution of the Android platform; every day brings better integration between Android and the other devices and software I rely on.