Currently, queues are fixed to the Player you are on, this is very limiting ( see viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8321&p=33753#p33753 ).
Associating a queue with a Channel offers so much more usability, and fun.
Channels are just a queue of media files with a currently playing pointer.
- ABBA
Beatles <-- Current
Coldplay
When a user chooses a channel, the player starts at the Current track and the user can see tracks coming up. If the user has permission, they can add, remove and re-order tracks in the channels queue.
It's like the 'Now Playing' list is now a set of queues that a user can choose from.
The Jukebox is a channel connected to the servers soundcard output, other channels may be created and selected by one or more users on web-interface, android player etc.
What can be done with Channels:
Wellm here is a story...
John starts a Channel called "Classic Rock Songs" and is listening on his PC in the study. Joan is on a laptop in the kitchen, she sees Johns tasteful list of tunes and chooses the "Classic Rock Songs" Channel. They are now sharing the same queue of tracks and listening to the same current song.
Joan adds a few old classics to the queue, which John likes so much he moves them up the queue to play next.
Meanwhile...
Mike chooses "Classic Rock Songs", and quickly realises that this is old peoples music, so starts his own Channel called "Killa Beatz", loads a Playlist of wicked tunez into the queue and is much happier.
Pete, Mike's friend, logs in from his house and chooses "Killa Beatz" Channel as well, and adds a few tracks he knows Mike will like.
Meanwhile...
John decides to leave the house and so takes his Android phone and selects "Classic Rock Songs" Channel on that, so that he can continue to listen to the songs he and Joan chose earlier. Joan continues to add tracks to the channel.
... After walking for a while John starts to jog, and now the laid-back mood of Joans' selections are too slow, so he starts a new Channel called "Jogging Music" and loads a Playlist of up-tempo tunes into the queue of that channel. He may return to "Classic Rock Songs" channel when he gets back.
The moral of the story is...
Subsonic is more fun when multiple people use it at the same time.
People move around, and so are not tied to a single device.
Different people want different selections of music.
The Channel concept fits with all of these requirements, and adds a lot more flexibility and fun.
