Nothing in your library changes until you say so.
Tulip looks after the library you keep in the Music app: duplicates, missing artwork and lyrics, songs whose file went missing, messy tags. Every fix waits for your OK, and anything it changes can be undone for 30 days.
Tulip is a Mac app: Apple silicon, macOS 14 or later. Download anyway
Apple silicon · macOS 14 or later · Free to browse and check · 14-day Pro trial, no account
Try it here: hold a fix or two, then press Apply at the top. You get five seconds to undo, and History keeps every change for 30 days.
- ArtworkLow Tide Radio · Mira OkaforHeldnone3000 × 3000
Cover Art Archive - LyricsPaper Lanterns00:12.40Paper lanterns over the harbour00:16.85we wrote our names in the tidenone → synced · LRCLIB · 3:42 match
- DuplicateNight Ferry × 2 · Harbour LightsKeep ALAC 16/44, remove AAC 256plays 41 + 12 → 53 · playlists move to the keeper
- TagsLumen & Field
Tram 7 (feat. Ida Moss)Tram 7title · “feat.” moves to the artist field
Tulip checks every song. You decide what changes.
- 23
- duplicate pairs
- 128
- albums without artwork
- 57
- covers under 600 px
- 9
- songs whose file is missing
The covers are drawn. In the app, it’s your own library.
One way to change anything: hold, apply, undo.
Artwork, lyrics, duplicates, tags, relinks, play counts: whatever Tulip would change goes through the same four steps. You can browse the whole library while a check runs, and nothing is locked while changes apply.
- ReviewEverything Tulip finds is a proposal first, with each field before and after. Press 1 to hold, 2 to dismiss; a dismissal is remembered.
- HoldHeld changes wait in the toolbar while you keep browsing. Amber in Tulip only ever means one thing: waiting for you.
- ApplyOne button, then five seconds to change your mind. Tulip re-reads each song from Music right before it writes, and skips any that changed since you held it.
- UndoEvery write is journalled with what was there before. History reverts a whole batch or one change for 30 days, and removed files wait in Tulip Trash for 30 days.
Four jobs, one library.
See what needs care, and fix it in order.
A first check runs while you look around, and a deeper audio pass can wait for tonight. Health sums it up in one word and sends each tile’s songs to Review.
- Health, in one wordExcellent, good, fair or needs attention, with a tile for each thing worth a look. Click a tile and its songs are in Review.
- Duplicates you can reason aboutMatched by tags, ISRC and audio fingerprint. The keeper follows rules you can read (lossless, then bitrate, local over cloud, plays, playlists), and plays, ratings and playlist places move to it.
- Dead tracks, relinkedSongs whose file moved are found again in folders you choose, by name, size, duration and fingerprint.
- Orphans and split albumsFiles in your Music folder that the library forgot, albums split in two, and compilations scattered across artists.
- Playlist hygieneRepeated entries, empty playlists and entries that point at nothing.
- Replace with a better filePROSwap a song for a local file you trust, from a watched folder or by hand. It keeps its place in every playlist, and Tulip checks the result a minute later.
Lyrics, artwork and tags, compared before they land.
Tulip fetches from open sources and Apple’s catalogue, shows the candidate next to what you have, and proposes the change. You pick; it writes.
- Lyrics, synced where they existFrom LRCLIB, matched by duration. Tulip keeps synced lyrics for itself and writes plain lyrics to Music; local files can get an .lrc beside them.
- Artwork, compared side by sideApple’s catalogue art (up to 3000 px) and the Cover Art Archive on a light table, next to what you have. The audit flags missing art and anything under 600 px.
- Tag rulesTitle case, “feat.” moved out of titles, your own genre map and sort fields, previewed field by field.
- Loudness and qualityLoudness (EBU R128) measured on your Mac becomes a volume adjustment proposal; a spectral check flags files that look like lossy copies.
Play anywhere, and keep the library honest.
Tulip isn’t a player. Listen in Music, or in Vox or any player that reads your Music library: playlists Tulip keeps are ordinary Music playlists, and plays you scrobble elsewhere can come home as play counts.
- Your listening historyImported from ListenBrainz with your username, or from Last.fm with your own API key.
- Play counts that add upPROPlays from other players become proposals that update play count and last played in Music.
- Stats by week, month and yearFrom a daily snapshot of your play counts, kept on your Mac.
- Smart playlists that stay smartPROBuild rules Music can’t express. Tulip keeps the result as an ordinary Music playlist and refreshes it daily or weekly.
Find what’s missing, knowing what you own.
Search the catalogue with your library in mind, catch new releases from artists you keep, and describe a playlist in a sentence.
- Search the catalogueApple Music’s catalogue (or the iTunes Search API) with your library in mind: what you own is marked, by ISRC and tags.
- Add what you findPROTo your library or a playlist with an Apple Music subscription; otherwise Tulip opens it in Music.
- Missing albums and new releasesMusicBrainz release groups for the artists you keep, minus what you already have.
- Similar artistsFrom ListenBrainz, for the artists you actually play.
- A playlist from a sentenceType “quiet piano I haven’t played this year”. Tulip turns it into playlist rules you can read and edit, using Apple’s on-device model when your Mac has it and a plain keyword reader when it doesn’t.
- Sounds like thisLABSFind songs that sound alike in your own library. Off by default; turning it on downloads the model to your Mac.
Credits
Tulip reads your library on your Mac and keeps its index there. These are the only services it talks to, and most only when you use the feature that needs them.
- License, renewals and the Apple Music token
- LonelyDuck
- Updates
- LonelyDuck
- Lyrics
- LRCLIB
- Release data and album art
- MusicBrainz, Cover Art Archive
- Artwork, catalogue search and previews
- Apple
- The Apple Music catalogue
- Apple
- Apple Music sign-in
- Apple
- The Labs sound model
- Hugging Face
- Listening history and similar artists
- ListenBrainz
- Scrobbles, with your own API key
- Last.fm
- Your library and your music files never leave the Mac.
- No IP address or location lookups.
- License renewals record only the day, never an IP.
Every host, and exactly what it receives
The same list is in the privacy policy.
Looking is free. Pay once to apply.
Everything that reads your library is free. Everything that writes to it is Pro.
Browse, check and review your whole library.
Download2.0 beta- Health overview and every check
- Review: hold and dismiss
- Listening stats and catalogue search
- A 14-day Pro trial on the Mac
Apply what you approve, on one Mac.
Everything in Free, plus
- Apply every change, with 30-day undo
- Replace with a better local file
- Kept smart playlists
- Add from the catalogue
- Play-count sync from ListenBrainz or Last.fm
One-time purchases, not subscriptions. Pro on 1 Mac is $24; on up to 3 Macs, $29. Pay by card or PayPal.
Bought Tulip 1.0? Your key works in Tulip 2 on up to 3 Macs, free. Trying first? Every Pro feature works for 14 days on your Mac, with no account.
Everything Free and Pro include
| What you can do | Free | Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Browse your library: songs, albums, artists, playlists, cloud-only | Included | Included |
| Scan and the Health overview, every check | Included | Included |
| Review: see every proposal, hold or dismiss it | Included | Included |
| Insights: listening stats | Included | Included |
| Catalogue search | Included | Included |
| Apply: every change Tulip writes to Music | Not included | Included |
| Replace a song with a local file | Not included | Included |
| Kept smart playlists | Not included | Included |
| Add from the catalogue | Not included | Included |
| Play-count sync writes | Not included | Included |
Every Pro feature works for 14 days on your Mac, with no account. After the trial, everything in Free keeps working and the Pro sheet appears the first time you press Apply.
Tulip 2.0 beta, for Apple silicon.
Tulip is a Mac app: Apple silicon, macOS 14 or later. Download anyway
- Finding lyrics finishes
- A new Overview
- Lyrics you can watch
- Duplicates that are easy to compare
- Find Files (was Replace)
- Themes
- Resizable panes
- Smaller things
Frequently asked
Do I need Apple Music?
No. Tulip works with the library you keep in the Music app, your own files included. An Apple Music subscription only matters for adding catalogue songs to your library; searching the catalogue works without one.
Will it change my library without asking?
No. Everything Tulip finds is a proposal: you review it, hold what you want and apply it yourself. After you press Apply you have five seconds to press Undo, every write is journalled with what was there before, and History can undo it for 30 days. Removed files wait in Tulip Trash for 30 days.
Does it work with Vox or another player?
Yes. Tulip isn’t a player; it looks after the library in the Music app. Smart playlists Tulip keeps are ordinary Music playlists, so a player that reads your Music library, such as Vox, sees them like any other.
Is there a trial?
Yes: a 14-day Pro trial on your Mac, with no account. After it, everything in Free keeps working, and the Pro sheet appears when you press Apply.
I bought Tulip 1.0. Do I pay again?
No. Your Tulip 1.0 key works in Tulip 2 on up to 3 Macs, free. Tulip 2 picks up the key Tulip 1.0 saved on your Mac; on another Mac, enter the key from your purchase email in Settings › License.
Can I get a refund?
Yes, under our refund policy. Email support@lonelyduck.io with your receipt email and order id. Refund policy
Intel Macs, working offline, moving Pro to another Mac and more are in the Tulip guide, or write to support@lonelyduck.io.