Music gaps and web access

Hello,
By quick introduction I use Volumio on a dedicated rpi3 B+ to feed my audiophile amp set-up but also to feed my whole house amplifier that feeds 24 speakers across 5 zones throughout my house (garage and backyard). I have separately built and programmed a custom home controller with another rPi3 B+ that manages the alarm system, speaks various messages throughout the house (IE: “North garage door has been open an extended amount of time”, weather status and alerts, etc…). The home controller Pi controls everything and can temporarily mute the music to deliver a spoken message, then goes back to music. For example, when my front doorbell is pressed, music is muted, I hear a doorbell sound, then a snippet from Paul McCartney’s “Someone’s knockin at that door” throughout the house. This way even if I’m in the backyard or garage I know when someone is at the door. This is one of about 45 significant things the system I built will do.

Anyway… I like Volumio a lot and there are a couple of things I’d like to see added to it. My recommendations are:

  1. The ability for Volumio to auto load the next song before the current song is finished and “overlap” the end of a song with the beginning of the next without any silence. Ideally this could be managed by setting the secs of overlap people enjoy most, or to turn this feature off completely.

  2. I also use a lot of streaming music sources (that have no advertising) for background music throughout the house. I know you can access web radio and I do, however I’d like the ability to access music services I need to log into, such as Stingray. So maybe what I seek is a Stingray plugin that allows me to enter my user ID and password so that Volumio can access all on-line content through the UI. (See music.stingray.com/en) Or a generalized plugin where you provide the URL as well.

Thanks,
st