JRiver

JRiver Media Center is a commercial media player application that runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux. What’s Now Playing connects to JRiver using the MCWS (Media Center Web Service) API to retrieve currently playing track information.

The JRiver input source supports both local and remote connections to JRiver Media Center instances. For local connections, What’s Now Playing can also retrieve the full file path of the currently playing track.

Requirements

  • JRiver Media Center (version 20 or later recommended)

  • MCWS (Media Center Web Service) enabled in JRiver

  • Network connectivity between What’s Now Playing and JRiver (if running on different machines)

Setup Instructions

JRiver Configuration

  1. Open JRiver Media Center

  2. Go to Tools → Options → Media Network

  3. Check Use Media Network to share this library

JRiver Menus showing Use Media Network and the Access Key

  1. Note the Access Key if one is displayed (optional but recommended for security)

JRiver Menus showing the username and password

  1. Configure authentication if desired:

    • Check Require authentication for requests

    • Set a Username and Password

JRiver Advanced drop down showing the port

  1. Note the Port number under Advanced and in some of the previous displays (default is 52199)

  2. Click OK to save settings

What’s Now Playing Configuration

  1. Open Settings from the What’s Now Playing icon

  2. Select Input Source from the left-hand column

  3. Select JRiver from the list of available input sources

  4. Select JRiver from the left-hand column to configure settings

Configuration Options

JRiver input selection in What's Now Playing showing an access key and port
Host/IP Address

The hostname or IP address of the machine running JRiver Media Center.

  • Use localhost or 127.0.0.1 if JRiver is on the same machine

  • Use the IP address (e.g., 192.168.1.100) for remote connections

  • IPv6 addresses are supported and will be automatically formatted correctly

Port

The port number for MCWS connections (default: 52199)

Username (Optional)

Username for authentication if required by JRiver

Password (Optional)

Password for authentication if required by JRiver

Access Key (Optional)

Access key for additional security validation if configured in JRiver

Connection Types

Local Connections

Local connections are automatically detected for:

  • localhost, 127.0.0.1, ::1

  • Private IP addresses (192.168.x.x, 10.x.x.x, 172.16.x.x)

  • Local domain patterns (.local, .lan, .home, .internal)

For local connections, What’s Now Playing will attempt to retrieve the full file path of the currently playing track, which can be useful for other applications or logging.

Remote Connections

Remote connections are used for all other hostnames and public IP addresses. File paths are not retrieved for remote connections for security reasons.

Testing Your Connection

You can test your JRiver MCWS configuration by opening a web browser and visiting:

http://[host]:[port]/MCWS/v1/Alive

For example: http://localhost:52199/MCWS/v1/Alive

This should return an XML response showing your JRiver server information if the connection is working correctly.

Troubleshooting

Connection Failed

  • Verify JRiver Media Center is running

  • Check that Media Network is enabled in JRiver settings

  • Ensure the correct host/IP address and port are configured

  • For remote connections, verify network connectivity and firewall settings

Authentication Failed

  • Verify username and password are correct (if authentication is enabled)

  • Check that the access key matches (if configured)

  • Ensure authentication is properly enabled in JRiver if credentials are provided

No Track Information

  • Ensure music is currently playing in JRiver

  • Check that JRiver is not paused

  • Verify the MCWS API is responding by testing the connection URL in a browser

File Path Not Available

File paths are only available for local connections. Remote connections will not include file path information for security reasons.

Supported Track Information

The JRiver input source provides the following track metadata:

  • Artist - Track artist name

  • Album - Album name

  • Title - Track title

  • Duration - Track length in seconds

  • Filename - Full file path (local connections only)

Additional track metadata may be available depending on how the tracks are tagged in JRiver.