iTunes enables you to organize and enjoy lots of content right on MacBook or on an iPod or iPhone. With its integration to the iTunes Store, it is also easy to add great stuff to your iTunes Library whenever you want.
Although it is incredibly powerful, iTunes is also designed so that it is easy to use. In fact, the application is so well designed, a number of its interface elements have been used in other applications and even for Mac OS X's Finder application.
Shows all the sources of content available to you
Stores and organizes all the content you manage in iTunes
The types of content included in your library
Shows album art when you listen to audio or video when you play video content
Shows content in the selected source as album covers that you can flip through
Shows detailed information about the content of the selected source
Enables you to search the selected source
Presents content in the selected source in a list
Enables you to browse the selected source quickly and easily
Use these to control audio and video content
Displays information about what you are doing
Use these to change views
Shows content in the selected source organized by group
Click to eject something, such as an iPod or audio CD
Shows or hides the Browser
Opens or closes the Artwork/ Video Viewer window
Causes content in the selected source to repeat
When active, iTunes randomly chooses content in the selected source to play
Creates playlists and smart playlists
Before you can enjoy content in iTunes, it has to be available there. The iTunes Library is where you store all of the content, including music, podcasts, movies, and TV shows. Once content is stored in your iTunes Library, you can use iTunes tools to keep that content organized so it is easily accessible to you.
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Categories
The content in your Library is organized automatically by categories, including Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, and so on. Within the Library source, you see an icon for each category. When you select a category, the content it includes is shown in the right part of the iTunes window where you browse and search it. When you find the content you want, you can listen to it, view it, create playlists, or burn it to disc.
iTunes considers sources of content stored outside of its database it works with as devices. Devices include audio CDs that you can play within iTunes or move into your iTunes Library (called importing content). If you use an iPod or iPhone with iTunes, they also appear in the Devices section when connected to MacBook. Like other sources, you select a device to work with it. For example, to listen to a CD, you select its icon and the songs it contains appear in the right part of the window.
Although it is easy to think of tracks as the songs on a CD, iTunes considers everything that you listen to or watch to be a track. So, each episode in a season of a TV series you download from the iTunes Store is a track, as is an audiobook. Tracks are what you see in each row in the Content pane.
Tags
Lots of information is associated with the content in the iTunes Library. This includes artist, track name, track #, album, genre, and rating. Each of these data elements is called a tag. Each tag can be shown in a column in the Content pane, and you can view all of them in the Info window. Tags are important because they are how you identify and organize content. Fortunately, iTunes automatically tags most of the content you will work with, but you can add tags yourself if you need to.
Playlists
One of the best things about iTunes is that you can create custom collections of content you want to listen to or watch. These collections are called playlists. Playlists can include any combination of content organized in any way. There are two kinds of playlists. You manually place content into a playlist, and when you create a smart playlist, you define criteria for content and iTunes automatically places the appropriate content into it. After you have created a playlist, you can listen to it and burn it to disc.
The iTunes Way
Although iTunes enables you to work with lots of different kinds of content (music, audiobooks, movies, and music videos), it uses a consistent process to work with that content. First, select the source of the content you want to work with; this can be a Library category, device, or playlist. Second, browse or search for content you want within the selected source if it is not ready for you immediately. Third, select the specific track you want to use. Fourth, use iTunes controls to play the content. This process is consistent no matter what kind of content you want to use, so once you get the hang of it, you can quickly get to any content you want.
Before you can enjoy audio or video content, you need to select that content. There are two fundamental ways to find content: by browsing or by searching.
Browsing is a good way to find something when you are not quite sure what you want to listen to or watch. Searching is useful when you know exactly what you want, but are not quite sure where it is.
Browse or Search for iTunes Content
BROWSE FOR ITUNES CONTENT
Note
The iTunes window has several views; this section assumes you are using List view.
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If the Browser does not appear, choose View, Show Browser.
The tracks on that album appear in the Content pane.
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I do not see the Genre column in the Browser. Where did it go?
You can use the Browser with or without the Genre column. If it is not shown, choose iTunes, Preferences. Click the General tab. Check the Show genre when browsing check box. Click OK.
Why does the Browser disappear when I select some sources?
The Browser is not all that useful for some sources, such as an Audio CD, because you can usually see all of the content on the source in the Content pane. When you select such a source, the Browser is hidden. You can show it again by clicking the Show Browser button at the bottom of the iTunes window.
List view is very functional and efficient, but it is not all that pretty and it is not that exciting to browse. Cover Flow view makes browsing for music like flipping through a stack of CDs (only easier). You view content by its cover art, and you can flip through the content available to you until you see something that strikes your fancy.
Browse the Library with Cover Flow View
As you drag, the covers flip quickly.
The Cover Flow browser fills the desktop.
Group view is sort of a combination of the List and Cover Flow views. You can see the Browser and lists as in List view, but the content is organized by collection and you see associated artwork as in Cover Flow view.
Browse the Library with Group View
The Browser appears at the top of the window.
For example, to group it by album, click the Album column, or to group it by artist, click the Artist column.
The content is rearranged so that it is grouped by the tag you selected.
If you have used any device to listen to audio content, you should be able to quickly figure out how to listen to audio content in iTunes. Of course, whereas most audio players give you just basic controls, iTunes really lets you fine-tune the audio experience so you can choose exactly how you want to listen to audio content.
Listen to Audio Content
The audio content begins to play.
iTunes works as well for video content as it does for audio content. You can watch movies, TV shows, music videos, and video podcasts within the iTunes window or in full-screen mode.
You can add many different types of content to the iTunes Library that you have obtained from a number of different sources.
One of the most useful ways to add content to iTunes is to import music from audio CDs you have. Once imported, this music becomes part of your iTunes Library and you can listen to it, add it to playlists, put it on custom CDs you burn, and so on.
Add Audio CDs to the iTunes Library
PREPARE ITUNES TO IMPORT AUDIO CDS
The Preferences dialog box appears.
iTunes saves your importing preferences.
IMPORT AUDIO CDS TO THE ITUNES LIBRARY
The import process starts.
When all the tracks on the disc have been imported, iTunes ejects the disc.
The tracks are now part of the iTunes Library.
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How does iTunes recognize an audio CD?
When you insert an audio CD, iTunes connects to the Internet and looks up the CD in online CD databases. When it finds the CD, iTunes adds tags for the album name, artist, and track titles. iTunes remembers CDs so that the next time you insert them, the information iTunes looked up is there automatically. For this to work, MacBook has to be able to connect to the Internet. If it cannot, new CDs show up as unknown with track titles such as Track 1 and Track 2.
iTunes supports many different types of formats when importing music. Should I use something other than AAC?
Although iTunes does support a number of audio formats, AAC (Advanced Audio Coding) is the best option for most people because AAC files provide good sound quality in relatively small file sizes. That is a good thing because you can store more content in your iTunes Library. If you demand the absolute highest audio quality, you can use the Apple Lossless format, which produces significantly larger files with slightly better sound quality. If you have a portable player other than an iPod, you might want to use the MP3 (Motion Picture Expert Group, Audio Layer 3) format, which is supported by all devices.
Adding audio CDs to the iTunes Library is easy. Using this process, it is also easy to build your iTunes Library using audio CDs you have on hand. But there is another way.
Apple's iTunes Store provides hundreds of thousands of audio CDs, movies, TV shows, audiobooks, podcasts, and other content that you browse, preview, and then purchase. As soon as you buy content from the iTunes Store, it is downloaded to your iTunes Library and is immediately ready for you to use, including all the important tags. Because access to the iTunes Store is built into iTunes, shopping for audio and video could not be easier.
Links take you directly to specific content as well as to categories
Album covers and titles are links to those albums
Click these links to see the homepages for categories of content
There are many kinds of lists in the iTunes Store, such as Top Movies, and Top Albums
This area shows content that is new to the Store
Use the page buttons and arrows to move among pages of content in a specific section
Displays information about a specific item
You can buy an item by clicking its Buy button
Various links take you to related information
The contents of the current item are shown in the bottom of the window
You can use a track's Buy button to buy only that track
Click these to visit the artist's homepage
Shows your current location in the Store
To be able to purchase content from the iTunes Store, you need to have an iTunes account and be logged into it (you can browse, search, and preview content without being logged into an account).
Like other aspects of the Store, you can get an account from within iTunes.
Obtain and Log Into an iTunes Store Account
iTunes connects to the iTunes Store and you see the Home page.
The Sign In dialog box appears.
The Welcome to iTunes Store screen appears.
When you are done, you will have an Apple ID and password. This enables you to log into your account on the iTunes Store.
The iTunes Store has lots of great content that you can easily preview, purchase, and download to MacBook, where it is added to your iTunes Library automatically. When you are interested in content, you can preview 30 seconds of it to decide if you want it or not.
Buy Music, TV, Movies, and More from the iTunes Store
CONFIGURE YOUR SHOPPING PREFERENCE
The iTunes Preferences dialog box appears.
When you buy collections, playlists for those collections are created automatically.
You are ready to shop.
BROWSE THE ITUNES STORE
The iTunes Store home page fills the right part of the window.
The Store Browser appears.
The iTunes Store home page fills the right part of the window.
As you type, iTunes attempts to match what you are typing.
There are two ways to shop in the iTunes Store. Using the 1-Click method, you can purchase content with a single click. Using the Shopping Cart method, you place content in a shopping cart; when you are ready to buy, you go to your shopping cart and check out of the store.
A 30-second preview plays.
BUY AND DOWNLOAD CONTENT FROM THE ITUNES STORE
Note
If you see Buy buttons instead of Add buttons, you are using the 1-Click method; as soon as you click a Buy button, you immediately buy and download that content.
The Sign In dialog box appears.
The content you selected is purchased and downloaded to your iTunes Library.
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What are the restrictions on content I purchase from the iTunes Store?
iTunes Plus content is not restricted by any limitations, so you can have and use it on as many computers as you want, and burn it to as many discs as you want. Other iTunes Store content is digitally protected, which still is not very limiting. For this kind of content, you can use it from up to five computers at the same time, and you can burn unique playlists to disc up to seven times.
How do I authorize a computer to play protected content?
When you attempt to play content for which a computer is not authorized, you see the Authorization dialog box. This is similar to the iTunes Store Sign In dialog box except that the Apple ID shown is the one under which the content was purchased. Enter the password for that account and click Authorize. You see how many computers are currently authorized to play that content and you can play it (the computer on which you purchased the content is authorized automatically)
Podcasts are episodic audio or video programs that you can listen to or watch. Many podcasts are like radio shows, and in fact, many are radio shows. Most radio shows offer podcast versions that you can download to MacBook and copy to an iPod. Podcasts go way beyond just radio shows, however. You can find podcasts on many different topics.
You can subscribe to many different podcasts in the iTunes Store. Once you have subscribed, episodes are downloaded for you automatically so that they are available for you to listen to or watch, which you do in the same way as other content in the Library.
The iTunes Store fills the Content pane.
The Podcasts home page appears.
The Browser opens.
The podcast plays.
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Because most podcasts are free, the entire episode plays instead of just a preview.
Note
Podcasts you have not listened to are marked with a blue dot (
The Podcasts tab of the iTunes Preferences dialog box appears.
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What if a podcast I want to subscribe to is not available in the iTunes Store?
For various reasons, some podcasts are not available in the iTunes Store. Some Web sites provide a URL to a podcast subscription; copy this, choose Advanced, Subscribe to Podcast, paste the URL in the dialog box, and click OK. Others provide podcasts as MP3 files that you download and add to the iTunes Library; you work with these just like tracks from a CD instead of a podcast.
A radio show I listen to has a podcast application; what does it do?
When shows offer podcasts as MP3 files for which you have to pay a fee to access, they often provide an application that downloads the files automatically. After you install and configure such an application, the show's MP3 files are downloaded to the location you specify. Add them to the iTunes Library by dragging them there or by choosing File, then Add to Library.
Playlists enable you to create your own custom content collections (music, video, and so on) that you can then play, burn to disc, move to an iPod or iPhone, and so on. You can create as many playlists as you want, and playlists are completely customizable; you can include as many tracks as you want in the order you want them. You can even include the same track in a playlist multiple times for those tracks you have just got to hear over and over again.
A standard playlist is one in which you manually place and organize songs. Smart playlists are discussed in the next section.
Create a Standard Playlist
A new playlist is created.
The playlist is created.
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When you double-click a playlist, it opens in a separate window.
Its contents appear in the Content pane.
The playlist is complete.
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Can I sort the contents of a playlist?
You can sort a playlist that you create by clicking the column heading by which you want to sort the playlist just like any other source. However, when you sort a playlist you have organized manually so the tracks play in a specific order, that order is lost. You have to manually place the tracks back in the order you want if sorting by one of the column headings does not create the order you want.
How can I create a playlist for an album I just downloaded from the iTunes Store?
Select all the tracks on the album. Choose File, New Playlist from Selection. A new playlist containing all the tracks you selected is created. If they are all from the same album, the name of the playlist is the name of the album.
Standard playlists are great because you can easily create custom content collections, but you need to do some work to create and fill them. Why not let iTunes do the work for you? That is where a smart playlist comes in.
Instead of placing content into a playlist manually, you define the criteria for content and iTunes grabs the appropriate content from the Library and places it into the smart playlist for you automatically.
Create a Smart Playlist
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How do I change the contents of a smart playlist?
If a smart playlist has live updating enabled, the contents of the playlist change over time as new content is added, content is removed, or existing content changes so it meets the playlist's criteria. If you want to change the contents of a smart playlist, you have to change the criteria for the list. To do so, select it, press and hold the Ctrl key, and choose Edit Smart Playlist. Use the resulting Smart Playlist dialog box to make changes to the conditions, which will change the content.
Can I drag the contents of a smart playlist onto another playlist to move it there?
The smart playlist does not actually contain the content you see or even pointers to that content, so you cannot move tracks from a smart playlist to another playlist. Likewise, you cannot delete tracks from a smart playlist; you must change the list's criteria so the content no longer meets them or delete the content from the Library (only do this if you are sure you do not want it).
iTunes enables you to burn content from the iTunes Library onto CD or DVD. An Audio CD is the standard audio CD format that plays in any CD player. An MP3 CD stores MP3 versions of content on a CD; this enables you to get more content on one disc, but requires a player capable of playing MP3 tracks. A Data CD or DVD makes a copy of content on a CD or DVD in the data format; this format can be used only in a computer.
Burn a CD or DVD
SELECT THE TYPE OF DISC TO BURN
The iTunes Preferences dialog box opens.
Note
If MacBook can burn only CDs, you only have the option to burn a data CD.
The Preferences dialog box closes and your settings are saved.
CREATE A PLAYLIST FOR THE DISC
If you want the content to fit onto one disc, the amount of content has to be equal to or less than the disc's capacity.
Note
If you do not mind the content being placed on more than one disc, you can ignore this because iTunes automatically handles placing the content on multiple discs.
MacBook checks the playlist.
iTunes starts burning the disc.
Note
When the playlist requires multiple discs, MacBook ejects each disc as it is filled up; insert the next disc to continue the burn process.
When the process is complete, you see the disc in the Devices section of the Source list.
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How can I back up my iTunes Library?
You should use Time Machine to back up MacBook (see Chapter 19). You should also back up your iTunes Library on discs so that you can protect the content you have stored there, especially content you have purchased from the iTunes Store (you can download this content only once). Choose File, then Back Up to Disc and follow the on-screen instructions to back up the Library. You can choose to back up only purchased content or the entire library.
When I try to burn an MP3 CD, I see a message stating that some of the content cannot be converted to MP3. Why not?
iTunes cannot convert some kinds of content to the MP3 format to be able to burn that content to an MP3 disc. The most notable of this is protected content you have purchased from the iTunes Store. If you attempt to burn a playlist containing this kind of content to an MP3 disc, the protected content is skipped and you see a warning message. You can either accept the content being left out of the disc or choose a different disc format.