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Sound Control vs Background Music: catalog facts
Sound Control	Background Music
Paid Paid licence with a free trial, or a subscription through the Mac App Store.	Free Free and open source under the GPL-2.0 licence.
macOS	macOS
Separate volume, balance and EQ for each app Hosts Audio Unit effects per app and output device	Per-application volume control with boost above maximum Auto-pauses music when other audio plays
Mac only Direct and Mac App Store purchases are not interchangeable	Still labelled alpha by its developer Auto-pause works only with supported music players
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Closed source	Open source
License not stated	License: GPL-2.0
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 1, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.