Music

What these bots do

A music bot joins a voice channel and plays audio there, from a queue everyone present can add to. That makes it one of the few tools that turn a server into a shared place rather than a chat window.

This category comes with history worth knowing. In 2021 the two best-known music bots shut down after receiving cease-and-desist notices from Google. Since then the rule has been simple: music bots that scrape YouTube stand on unstable ground and can disappear at any time. Choosing one today is less about the feature list and more about where the audio comes from.

Features that actually matter

The source. Bots that use official interfaces to Spotify, Apple Music or SoundCloud, or that run their own licensed catalogue, last longer. Bots that resolve YouTube links are more convenient and more fragile. That is a decision, not a detail.

How the queue behaves. Who may skip? Is a vote required? What happens to the queue when the last human leaves the channel? Those three answers decide whether the bot creates enjoyment or arguments. On larger servers, a skip vote is not a luxury.

Audio quality and dropouts. Listen for yourself before deciding, ideally at peak time. Free offerings often run on saturated hardware; you will not spot stuttering in a feature list, but you will after five minutes of playback.

What costs what. Nowhere is the free-versus-paid line sharper. Audio filters, saved playlists, 24/7 presence and higher bitrate frequently sit behind a paywall. Find out before your server gets used to them.

Permissions worth checking

A music bot needs very little, which is the pleasant part of this category. Connect and Speak in the voice channel, plus Send Messages and Read Message History in whichever text channel drives it.

It does not need Manage Messages (unless it tidies up its own control messages), nor Manage Roles, Moderate Members or, obviously, Administrator. A music bot asking for Administrator has either a misconfiguration or an intention it is not explaining.

Useful but optional: Use Voice Activity for push-to-talk channels, and Priority Speaker so music does not talk over people.

Where server owners go wrong

The most common mistake is choosing by fame rather than by availability. The famous names in this category have been shutting down in sequence. A smaller bot with a clear source outlives a bigger one with a murky one.

The second is a music bot with no control over who controls it. Without a DJ role, every voice channel becomes a question of power. Set it up on day one, not after the first argument.

The third is depending on a single instance. If your server uses music seriously, keep a second bot ready. Outages in this category are not the exception.