Background Knowledge

I will explain how to create a script that will run Rhythmbox Music Player at startup, enqueue a playlist and then begin playing.

Note: I have only verified this method to work on Ubuntu v10.04.

Solution

1. Using your favorite text editor copy and paste the following code below.
2. You may need to replace “–play” with “–play-pause” depending your environment.
3. Replace the following “/home/foo/playlist.pls” to where the playlist is saved (previously created).
4. Save the script to a safe location such as a user directory (e.g. /home/foo/.rhythmbox-startup.sh).
5. Using the “Terminal” under “Applications -> “Accessories” type the following without double quotes, “sudo chmod +x /home/foo/.rhythmbox-startup.sh” to grant the file execute permissions.
6. Close the “Terminal”.
7. Go to the menu “System” -> “Preferences” -> “Startup Applications” and then click on “Add”.
8. Enter the following into the corresponding dialog fields without double quotes, Name: “Rhythmbox”, Command: “/home/foo/.rhythmbox-startup.sh” and Comment: “Runs Rhythmbox with a playlist”.
9. Click “Add” and then “Close” buttons.

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#!/bin/bash
sleep 10 &&
rhythmbox-client --hide &&
sleep 5 &&
rhythmbox-client --enqueue /home/foo/playlist.pls &&
rhythmbox-client --play

Source: Rhythmbox Startup Script for Ubuntu
Source: Rhythmbox – Community Ubuntu Documentation