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January 13, 2006

Use iTunes Better: iPoditude.com’s guide for getting the most out of iTunes

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- Always listen to a song all the way through: Don't be tempted to skip the end. I know your fast-forward finger starts to twitch during that long fadeout, or that last couple of seconds of silence. but just be patient. The reason is that this allows the play count to update (in both iTunes and your iPod). Not only does this let itunes know which songs you like, but it also keeps your playlists that depend on 'play count' or 'last played' criteria accurate.

- Make lots of playlists, especially smart playlists: I get bored when I listen by artist or song so it's always great to put on a playlist that will keep the songs flowing free and keep you guessing what's coming next. You can make Smart Playlists that dynamically update and constantly change by adding in 'last played', 'play count', or 'date added' criteria.

- Show browser and search bar: They don't take up much screen real estate but help to navigate your library easily. Take advantage of these great tools in iTunes.

- Use multiple windows: It's very handy to have the current playlist in one window, your library in another, and the iTunes music store in a third. View the detailed how-to for more information on opening multiple windows in iTunes.

- Update your ID3 tags: ID3 tags are a way to provide additional information for each of your songs. Artist, song title, and album name are obvious (and essential) ID3 tags. But you can store a lot more information for each song, and by doing so, you can navigate your music collection in precise and creative ways. Add a genre to your songs so you can listen to all of your Irish Lounge Emo while drinking martinis. Input the year of release so you can listen those golden oldies from the 80's during your next bike ride.

Posted on January 13, 2006 11:39 AM | Category: How-To, Music, Resources, iTunes

Comments

I recently received a number of DVDs for Christmas, but rarley have time to watch these at home.

I am looking for some software to copy these DVD’s onto my iPod so I can watch them while travelling backwards and forwards to work.

Does anyone have any experience of suitable software???

Cheers

Jon

Posted by: Jonathan Osborne on January 17, 2006 03:07 AM

handbrake for mac os x will rip a dvd into ipod format

Posted by: jt on January 20, 2006 11:58 AM

Can I keep songs on my IPOD 30 GB WITHOUT saving them in the itues library. They are taking up so much space on my computer

Posted by: Michael Foley on January 21, 2006 07:10 PM

Is there any sites where i can get Mpeg 4 files for free to put on my ipod video i dont want to buy any and it can be done

Posted by: Bryn on January 29, 2006 02:35 PM

Me too interested in knowing the suitable software for it.

Posted by: rachel on January 31, 2006 04:19 AM

Xilisoft DVD ripper & Xilisoft iPod Video Convertor

Posted by: Jim on February 8, 2006 08:47 PM

Good tips ! Thanks for the advices !

Posted by: Guillaume du Gardier on February 9, 2006 03:11 PM

Great tips! Yeah, smart playlists are awesome; I have a bunch of them.

Posted by: 100 movies for your ipod on March 3, 2006 12:41 AM

I would be intereseted in mac os x for my dvd also. Can anyone let me know about this.

Posted by: Christopher on April 14, 2006 03:25 AM

Can I copy the song from my ipod and paste it to Library? I want to copy it out and burn it to CD.

Posted by: Siu Lan on April 16, 2006 06:55 PM

Handbrake is great and you can now get an experimental version for windows…..google is your friend

Also free mp4 files can be found in p2p downloaders

Posted by: johnshon on April 24, 2006 10:18 PM