vlc allow play multiple videos (multiple instances) - Serbipunk/notes GitHub Wiki

$ vlc --no-one-instance file1.ogg & vlc --no-one-instance file2.ogg

https://wiki.videolan.org/VLC_HowTo/Play_multiple_instances/

macOS 2024

On the Mac, running multiple instances of VLC is not supported out of the box.

As a workaround, you can create a Droplet/App that does the following:

launch the VLC droplet/app to get a separate instance of VLC,
drop one or more files onto VLC droplet/app, or
associate your .mov, .avi, and other files directly with the VLC droplet/app, allowing you to simply click on the files to launch the files in a new standalone VLC session.
Paste the code below into a new AppleScript Editor script and save it as an application.

on run
    do shell script "open -n /Applications/VLC.app"
    tell application "VLC" to activate
end run

on open theFiles
    repeat with theFile in theFiles
        do shell script "open -na /Applications/VLC.app " & quote & (POSIX path of theFile) & quote
    end repeat
    tell application "VLC" to activate
end open
File Association with the Droplet/App can be done as follows:

Open Finder and find the video file of interest
Right click on the file (assumes you have right click enabled)
Choose Get Info
Under Open with:, click dropdown and select the VLC droplet/app
Click Change All button
If prompted "are you sure", select "Yes".

https://wiki.videolan.org/VLC_HowTo/Play_multiple_instances/