My Personal DJ
MusicBee Auto DJ
MusicBee already does most of this, so you may not need anything else. Auto DJ is the playlist in the left sidebar - click it, choose your settings, then Preview to check the selection or Start DJ to begin playback, and it keeps feeding your library in like a personal radio station. Crossfading is separate and lives in Player Preferences, where you switch it on and set a length. What MusicBee does not do is match tempo between two tracks or vary the transition depending on what the songs are doing - one fade length is applied to everything, and beats are left where they fall. Below is how to set both up, and what changes when the transition is chosen per pair instead.
Download free for WindowsHow they compare
MusicBee vs an analysing mixer
MusicBee Auto DJ
Solves selection well. Keeps the queue full from your own library on rules you set, with a Preview so you can check before starting. If your problem is "I do not want to build a playlist", this is the answer and it is free.
MusicBee crossfade
A separate switch in Player Preferences with one length for every transition. Removes the silence between songs, which is what most people want, but knows nothing about tempo, key or where a track actually ends.
My Personal DJ
Analyses each file for tempo, key, loudness and where the vocals sit, then chooses the length and shape of every individual transition from those two tracks - and can beatmatch electronic material rather than letting two tempos collide. Free for Windows, and it reads the same local files.
What Auto DJ is
What Auto DJ actually does
Auto DJ is a queue filler rather than a mixer. When the playing queue starts running down it pulls more tracks from your library according to the rules you gave it, so the music keeps going without you building a playlist. That solves the selection problem, which is genuinely half the job, and it is the reason a lot of people never look further. The part it leaves alone is the join between one track and the next: that is handled by the separate crossfade setting, applied uniformly, with no knowledge of tempo or key.
Step by step
Setting up Auto DJ and crossfade
Open the Auto DJ playlist
In the left sidebar there is a playlist called Auto DJ. Click it and you get the settings for how tracks should be chosen - which part of the library to draw from and how the selection should behave.
Preview, then Start DJ
Preview shows you the tracks it would pick so you can sanity-check the selection before committing. Start DJ begins playback and keeps the queue topped up as it drains.
Turn crossfading on separately
Crossfade is not part of Auto DJ. Open Player Preferences and enable crossfading there, then set the length. This is the setting people miss when Auto DJ works but the tracks still butt up against each other.
The gap
No beatmatching, and one length for everything
MusicBee has no automatic beatmatching. It does not detect the tempo of the outgoing and incoming tracks or nudge either one so the beats land together, which means an overlap between two rhythmic songs at different tempos simply contains both rhythms at once. The crossfade length is also a single number applied to every pair. A song that ends on a thirty-second ambient tail and one that stops hard on the final beat get the identical treatment, so the same setting that sounds right across an album can sound wrong the moment the next track is a different kind of ending.
Supported formats
The same local library MusicBee reads
No import, no conversion, no cloud. Point it at the folder your music already lives in and it reads the files where they are.
FAQ
MusicBee Auto DJ - common questions
Does MusicBee have an Auto DJ?+
Yes. It is the playlist called Auto DJ in the left sidebar. Click it, choose the settings, then use Preview to check the selection or Start DJ to begin. It keeps pulling tracks from your library so the music does not run out.
Does MusicBee crossfade between songs?+
Yes, but it is a separate setting from Auto DJ. Enable crossfading in Player Preferences and set the length there. Auto DJ handles which songs play; crossfade handles how they join.
Does MusicBee beatmatch?+
No. MusicBee does not detect tempo or align beats between tracks. An overlap between two rhythmic songs at different tempos will contain both rhythms at once rather than locking them together.
Why does the crossfade sound wrong on some songs?+
Because it is one length applied to every pair. A track ending on a long ambient tail and one stopping hard on the final beat get exactly the same overlap, so any single value will suit some transitions and not others.
Is My Personal DJ a replacement for MusicBee?+
Not for library management - MusicBee is a strong library tool and stays better at tagging and organising. It is a replacement for the transition, where MusicBee applies one fixed fade and My Personal DJ decides each one from the two tracks involved.
Can I use both?+
Yes. They read the same files from the same folders without importing or moving anything, so keeping MusicBee for organising your library and using My Personal DJ when you want it to play itself costs you nothing.
Related
More guides
Winamp Alternative
Modern replacement for Winamp with automatic DJ crossfades and smart playlists
Spotify Shuffle Alternative
Better than shuffle - energy-aware sequencing and automatic crossfades for your own files
VirtualDJ Alternative
Automatic DJ mixing with no controller, no setup, and no learning curve
Windows Media Player Crossfade
Where the setting hides, why Windows 11 lost it, and what adapts to the music
All product names and trademarks are property of their respective owners. My Personal DJ is not affiliated with or endorsed by Spotify, Winamp, VirtualDJ, or any other company mentioned on this page.
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