Batocera’s menu system (EmulationStation) supports background music playback, giving you the ability to personalize the atmosphere of your retro setup.
In this blog post, we will walk through how to add custom background music and enable it within Batocera.
- Preparing Your Music Files
- Accessing Batocera’s Share Folder
- Placing Your Music Files
- Enabling Background Music in Batocera
- Restarting EmulationStation
- Final Thoughts
Preparing Your Music Files
Before copying files, make sure your music is in a supported format.
Commonly supported formats include:
.mp3.ogg.flac
If your music is in another format, converting it beforehand helps avoid playback issues.
Accessing Batocera’s Share Folder
You can add music to Batocera in two common ways.
From Another Computer (Recommended)
Batocera exposes a network share.
- On Windows: \BATOCERA\share
- On macOS or Linux: smb://batocera/share or **smb://
/share**
Once connected, browse to the music directory.
From Batocera via SSH or Terminal
If accessing locally or over SSH, the music directory is located at:
/userdata/music/
Placing Your Music Files
Copy your music files into:
/userdata/music/
Batocera will automatically scan this directory for playable music files.
Enabling Background Music in Batocera
After adding your music:
- Press Start
- Go to Sound Settings
- Set Enable Background Music to ON
You can also adjust the Music Volume from this menu to balance it with system sounds.
Restarting EmulationStation
For the new music to take effect:
- Restart EmulationStation
- Or reboot Batocera
Once restarted, your custom music will begin playing while browsing menus.
Final Thoughts
Adding custom background music is a simple way to make your Batocera setup feel more personal. Whether you prefer arcade ambience, chiptunes, or something completely different, Batocera makes it easy to tailor the experience.
Because music files live in the userdata directory, they persist across updates and system changes, making this customization safe and low-maintenance.
