Browsing for Tunes | Absolute Beginner's Guide to iPod and iTunes

Browsing for tunes can be a great way to discover music you might be interested in but don't know about yet. You can click through the store to explore in various ways; when you aren't looking for something specific, browsing can result in lots of great music of which you might not have even been aware.

Browsing the iTunes Music Store Home Page

You have several ways to browse for music from the iTunes Music Store Home page.

note

Thousands of podcasts are available in the iTunes Music Store. To learn how to access them, see "Subscribing and Listening to Podcasts" on page 254.

You will see several special sections titled New Releases, Exclusives, Pre-Releases, Just Added, and Staff Favorites; these categories of music are relatively self-explanatory (for example, Just Added contains music that is new to the iTunes Music Store). To scroll through the music available in these areas, click the scroll arrows or buttons (see Figure 25.2). When you do so, you will see the next set of albums in that category. If you see an album that interests you, click it. You will see the details of the album on which you clicked (see Figure 25.3). When you get to something that interests you, you can preview and purchase it.

Figure 25.2. You can browse the categories on the home page by using the scroll tools.

Figure 25.3. Notice that browsing an album in the iTunes Music Store looks similar to other iTunes sources; even better, it works in the same way, too.

You can also browse the iTunes Music Store home page by using the various lists presented on the screen, such as the Today's Top Songs, Today's Top Albums, Featured Artists, Celebrity Playlists, iTunes Originals, and iTunes Essentials. To browse a list, you can click its title or on any of the songs or artists in the list. For example, to see the most downloaded albums on a given day, click the title text of the Today's Top Album list. You will see a screen that shows the albums that have been downloaded most on the day you visit the store (see Figure 25.4). You can click an album to view its contents.

Figure 25.4. The Today's Top Albums list is a good way to see what other people are finding on the iTunes Music Store.

tip

Clicking the See All link in the upper-right corner of each category's window enables you to see all the albums in the respective category.

In the upper-left area of the home page, you will see a list that enables you to access special areas, including Audio Books, iMix, Music Videos, and so on. Just click a link to move to the related area.

Also on the home page are a number of ads that change over time. These ads feature specific artists, the current sales promotion, and so on. Just click an ad to move to its music.

You can also browse the iTunes Music Store by clicking the iTunes Browse button or the Browse Music link on the iTunes Music Store home page. The Browser pane will appear above the Content pane just as it does when you are browsing your Library. You can browse the store in the same way, too. For example, click a genre to see all the music of that genre in the store. Click the Browse button or the Home page button to return to the normal store interface.

tip

The iTunes Music Store is a combination of a website and the standard iTunes controls. For example, to move back and forward in the pages you have visited, use the Back and Forward arrows. When you are browsing a specific item, you can jump to any level between it and the home page by clicking anywhere in the current browse path.

Browsing by Genre

Browsing by genre is a good way to find music by its style. Start from the home page and choose a genre on the Genre menu. The home page will be refreshed, presenting music only in the genre you selected (see Figure 25.5). The tools on the home page will be the same; the content of the music you see will be entirely focused on the genre of music you are browsing.

Figure 25.5. If you like jazz, as I do, browsing the Jazz genre is a great way to find new music.