Sonovault MCP vs MCP Apple Music

In-depth architectural comparison of the Sonovault MCP and MCP Apple Music MCP servers. Compare execution transports, security boundaries, tool capabilities, quality scores, and ready-to-paste client installation snippets for Claude, Cursor, Windsurf, and VS Code.

Which MCP Server Should You Choose?

Choose Sonovault MCP when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Art & Culture domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: API Key required (Freemium).
• You have access to required keys: SONOVAULT_API_KEY.
• Primary tools included: search_tracks, lookup_isrc, get_track.

Explore Sonovault MCP Details

Choose MCP Apple Music when:

• You need dedicated capabilities in the Art & Culture domain.
• You prefer local stdio subprocess transport architecture.
• Your security boundary fits: API Key required (BYOK (Pay Provider Direct)).
• You have access to required keys: APPLE_TEAM_ID, APPLE_KEY_ID, APPLE_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH.
• Primary tools included: Search Apple Music catalog and personal library, List library songs, albums, artists, and playlists, Create playlists and add tracks from catalog or library.

Feature & Specification Comparison

Specification	Sonovault MCP rekordcloud Art & Culture	MCP Apple Music Cifero74 Art & Culture
Summary	Music metadata search over 90M+ tracks, artists, labels, and releases: genre, release dates, ISRC/ISWC codes, and cross-platform IDs (Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, Beatport, Discogs, MusicBrainz, YouTube). npx -y sonovault-mcp	Full Apple Music integration for Claude via MCP — search catalog, manage library & playlists
Category & Scope

Tools & Capabilities Breakdown

Ready-to-Paste Client Configurations

Paste either (or both) of these JSON server blocks into your client config file (e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json).

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "rekordcloud-sonovault-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "sonovault-mcp"
      ],
      "env": {
        "SONOVAULT_API_KEY": "YOUR_SONOVAULT_API_KEY_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "cifero74-mcp-apple-music": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "cifero74-mcp-apple-music"
      ],
      "env": {
        "APPLE_TEAM_ID": "YOUR_APPLE_TEAM_ID_HERE",
        "APPLE_KEY_ID": "YOUR_APPLE_KEY_ID_HERE",
        "APPLE_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH": "YOUR_APPLE_PRIVATE_KEY_PATH_HERE"
      }
    }
  }
}

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