NextSound

(Title is WIP)

Docker Container is here:

NextSound on Docker Hub

What is it?

This was designed to be an open source, self-hostable alternative to Soundcloud for musicians or podcasters or anyone working with audio.

As I looked around the web, I did not see a convincing alternative to Soundcloud that sat in the middle of the venn diagram I had in my mind.

This project aims to be simple at one thing (sharing audio and soliciting feedback on that audio) without any of the extra features I saw in alternative tools.

What can it do today?

As of 9/24/26, you can:

Tracks & versions

• Spin up an instance using docker
• Have a single user install where the admin can upload tracks and set/edit/delete metadata on those tracks (project notes, changelog between versions)
• Upload multiple versions of the same track, so a listener can hear the progression. The newest upload becomes the default, and older versions stay selectable.
• Delete an entire project OR delete a single version of a track
• Allow individual versions to be downloaded
• Uploads are checked by their actual contents, not just the file extension. Supported formats: MP3, WAV, OGG, FLAC.

Playlists

• Group tracks into playlists that play straight through - when one track ends the next one starts, and its notes and comments load in automatically
• A playlist entry follows the project's latest version by default, so new mixes show up on their own. You can also pin an entry to a specific version.
• The same song can be in a playlist more than once, so you can build 'before/after' playlists (v1 pinned, then latest)
• Reorder tracks, swap pinned versions, and remove tracks from the admin panel

Sharing & visibility

• Every track and playlist gets its own share link (/share/... and /playlist/...)
• Marking something 'public' lists it on the home page. 'Private' just means unlisted - anyone with the link can still listen. See How privacy works below.

Feedback

• Listeners can click on a waveform and leave a timestamped comment
• Admins can mark comments as resolved/declined, or delete them
• Comments can be disabled site-wide. They will still appear for the admin though, so you can use this as a 'note to self' thing on tracks while still sharing the track with other people.
• Optional webhook (e.g. Discord) that posts a message when a comment is left, a track is uploaded, and/or a playlist is created - you pick which in Settings

How privacy works

NextSound's public/private setting controls what's listed on the home page, not who can listen:

• A public track or playlist shows up on the home page.
• A private track or playlist doesn't show up anywhere, but anyone you send the link to can listen.
• A playlist link plays every track in it, including private ones. It's up to you to curate your playlists. The admin panel warns you when:
  • you add a private track to a public playlist
  • you make a playlist public that has private tracks in it
  • you make a track private that's in a public playlist
• Playlist pages never reveal the individual share links of the tracks inside them.

If you need something truly locked down, don't upload it here yet (see the roadmap below).

What will it do eventually?

I want to at some point add:

• let users edit/delete their own comments
• re-work the UI to be nicer looking
  • For example, with a lot of tracks, the admin UI is going to be unwieldy.
• light mode / dark mode AND/OR allow admins to create custom themes from a dashboard (I have rudimentary color picking for some buttons right now)
• allow admins to tag their projects / versions (ie. "sketch" / "mixing" / "mastering" / "completed")
• truly private tracks (audio only streamed to people who have access, instead of being reachable by its file URL)
• more security hardening; right now it assumes a single admin who sets a secure password ahead of time

Installation

1. create a docker-compose.yml file, example given below. Change the port and the .env file if you want.

services:
  nextsound:
    image: novakeith/nextsound:latest
    container_name: nextsound_app
    # change this port if you want. Default is 8027.
    ports:
      - "8027:80"
    volumes:
      - ./data:/var/www/html/data
      - ./uploads:/var/www/html/uploads
    # Make sure you open the .env file and update the defaults. Example .env file is at: .env.example
    env_file:
      - .env
    restart: always

1. Grab the .env.example file from this repo and save it as .env in the same directory as your docker-compose.yml. Make necessary changes to the .env file before exposing this container publicly! (see Configuration)
2. run docker compose up -d in a terminal in the same folder where your docker-compose.yml is
3. navigate to your service in your browser (ie. 127.0.0.1:8027) and login using the admin password you set in the .env file.
4. Everything in the database should be created on first run

Installation (Building this repo)

1. Download this repo
2. run cp .env.example .env and then edit .env so your environment variables are set properly. Do not run the docker without editing this first!
3. run the service with docker compose up -d --build
4. The docker container will create the necessary folder structure, as well as the database the first time the page is accessed.

Installation (Unraid)

See here. I'm eventually going to work on getting this added to the community app store.

Configuration

Set these in your .env file:

Variable	What it does
ADMIN_PASSWORD	Required. The admin login password. If it's missing, login is disabled entirely. Use something long.
SITE_TITLE	The site name shown in the nav bar. Only used when the database is first created - after that, change it from the Settings page.
SITE_URL	Your public URL (e.g. https://nextsound.mysite.com, no trailing slash), used in webhook links. Also only used on first run; change it later from Settings.

The maximum upload size is 500MB, set in uploads.ini.

If you're running NextSound behind a reverse proxy with HTTPS, make sure the proxy sends the X-Forwarded-Proto header so the login cookie is marked secure.

Upgrading

1. Pull the new image (or git pull and rebuild) and restart the container
2. Log in and go to Settings. If the new version needs a database update, you'll see a button there - click it. It won't remove any data.

Some features (like playlists) stay hidden until that update has been run.

Shutting down the service

If you want to cleanly reset all the data this service has created but retain the install files to run again in the future, you can run CLEANUP.sh - this will erase everything in the /data/ and /uploads/ folders. You will be prompted to confirm before the script executes and deletes files.

Screenshots

Tracks can be public or private. Public tracks are listed on the home page.

There is a waveform player with version notes and project notes, and a comment form that automatically time stamps the comment.

Comments are visible by default but can be toggled off by the admin.

The admin panel is straightforward:

Projects listed in the admin panel; you can upload a new version if you wish, that automatically replaces the old version (the old version still remains selectable by listeners)

Global site settings. Rudimentary at this point but hopefully more to come soon.