How to lock a music players playback controls?

June 24, 2008 8:33 PM

Is there a way (using Windows) to lock a media player (iTunes, Winamp, or any out there) but still allow users to queue songs?

Before you ask, yes I've searched and searched but I can't find a simple solution to my problem. Basically I want people at my party this weekend to be able to queue up music into a play list without letting them touch the play/pauses/next track/etc...

My plan is to incorporate an Eye-Fi to stream pictures taken around the party onto a projection screen while incorporating a "request-a-song" music feature on the laptop. I got both bases covered already if I just wanted to display pictures and play whatever music I tell it to, but I want to be able to lock the playback controls so people will have to wait patiently for their song to play.

I hope this makes sense to everyone :X.

posted by Schuby to computers & internet (7 comments total)

You could use MediaMonkey in Party Mode. You can hide the player controls to stop people from fiddling with it, then allow them to add songs to the playlist.

The free version comes with Party mode, and has no limitations which would make this a problem.
posted by DanW at 8:51 PM on June 24, 2008

I've always wanted to do the same thing with my mac. I think it would be simpler with an ipod with a party feature but requires a 4-digit pin to do anything else other than add music to the queue. But I would always have to worry about theft or some drunk person spilling their drink all over my macbook while they are trying to fumble through the playlist.
posted by stlboi at 9:10 PM on June 24, 2008

Setup a temp windows account that can't delete files\rename\move\etc. Put all the songs into one folder in a music list view and full screen the folder.
After that set winamp to "add files to queue on double click"
Then hide all of the winamp windows and remove it from the task bar.

The music will be playing and any file double clicked on will be added to the bottom of the queue.
posted by zephyr_words at 10:05 PM on June 24, 2008

Windows XP MCE (Media Center Edition) has this exact tool called 'party mode' and you can even set different backgrounds if I remember correctly (I opened the program once and quickly closed it realizing I'd never throw a party nerdy/hip enough for that stuff).

If you don't have XP MCE, a quick Google found it was available separately as a 'Plus! Party Mode' plugin. Trying to buy it now leads to a discontinued notice suggesting the feature is now built into Vista, which is untrue - Vista can only lock WMP to full-screen.

Try including "party mode" in your searches.
posted by pants tent at 12:25 AM on June 25, 2008 [1 favorite]

Wikipedia can tell you what to look for.
posted by pants tent at 12:38 AM on June 25, 2008

Solution using MediaMonkey.
posted by pants tent at 12:44 AM on June 25, 2008

For stlboi, does MusicNazi on OSX meet your needs?
posted by salmacis at 7:58 AM on June 25, 2008