I have been using Amarok from around version 1 and I still can't find the play button instantly. I mostly work with texteditor and browser which both have action buttons at the top. Also does other KDE apps, including everything in the PIM. So could it be possible to make the visualization+control bar draggable to get it at the top of the screen and also have song name and slider in place of visualization?

I have to agree that I prefer the old placement of the "current" sidebar.

The reason being that I spend the most time in the playlist. I constantly change my mind about what I want to play next, so first requirement is enough room for the playlist. When playing an artist I like to grab other songs from the same artist and having the Music tab with maximum vertical space allows me to see most of the albums, songs for that artist. Another reason is following lyrics. Its easier to be able to see the entire song lyrics without having to scroll. (I know you can make it larger in new layout, but that comes by decreasing playlist, which we don't want.) The last reason is reading any info when scrolling is needed is also harder and more often than not will cause users to not use the feature anymore. The less scrolling needed in the Wiki Artist info, the better.

I'm using a widescreen now, and I just find the old layout much better and pleasing to my eyes.