Searching for Specific Tunes


note

When you browse by genre, think of the resulting page as the "home page" for that genre.


Browsing for music is fun, but it can be time-consuming and might not lead you to the music you want. When you want something specific, you can search for music using the iTunes Music Store Search tools. The two kinds of searches are basic search and power search.

When you do a basic search, you search by one search term. Basic searches are fast and easy but can sometimes find a lot of songs you aren't interested in. When you perform a power search, you can combine several search terms to make searching more precise.

Performing a Basic Search

You already learned how to search with iTunes, so you already know how to perform a basic search in the iTunes Music Store because this type of search works in the same way. To perform a basic search, follow these steps:

1.

Select Music Store as the source. You will see the iTunes Music Store home page.

2.

Click the magnifying glass icon in the iTunes Search tool (which becomes the Search Music Store tool when the Music Store source is selected) and select the attribute by which you want to search (see Figure 25.6). The options are All, Artists, Albums, Composers, Songs, iMixes (you'll learn about these later in this chapter), and Power Search (you'll learn about that one in the next section).

Figure 25.6. You can use this menu to choose the attribute by which you want to search for music.


3.

In the Search box, type the text or numbers for which you want to search.

4.

Press Return or Enter. The search will be performed and you will be presented with the results window (see Figure 25.7). At the top of the window are the albums relevant to your search. At the upper-right side are the top songs and top artists related to your search. At the bottom of the window, the Content pane lists the specific songs that meet your search criteria.

Figure 25.7. In this search, I found all the music in the store with "Basie" as the artist.


After you have performed a search, you can click the albums to view their contents, preview songs, purchase albums or songs, and so on.

Performing a Power Search

note

Notice that the label under the Search tool reflects the search attribute you selected. For example, if you chose Artists, the tool's label becomes Search Artists.


Sometimes a basic search just doesn't cut it. Fortunately, you can use a power search if you want to find something very specific. With a power search, you can search by more than one attribute at the same time, such as by artist and composer. To search with power, do the following steps:

1.

From the iTunes Music Store home page, click the Power Search link located in the upper-left corner of the window. You'll see the Power Search window (see Figure 25.8).

Figure 25.8. Using a power search, you can perform searches based on more than one attribute.


2.

For the first attribute for which you want to search, enter text or numbers in its box. For example, to search by artist, enter the artist's name in the Artist box.

3.

Repeat step 2 for each attribute for which you want to search.

4.

If you want to limit the search to a specific genre, select it on the Genre menu.

5.

When you have configured the search, click Search. The window will be refreshed, and you will see the results of your search (see Figure 25.9). Just under the search tools, you will see the top albums, top songs, and top artists that meet your search criteria. At the bottom of the window, you will see the songs that meet your search.

Figure 25.9. Here I have searched for music with the artist "Chapman" in the Inspirational genre.


Just like a basic search, after you have performed a power search, you can click the albums to view their contents, preview songs, purchase albums or songs, and so on.

tip

Any of the black circles with arrows inside them are links to other places (refer to Figure 25.9). For example, when you are viewing a top list, such as top downloads, click the See All arrow to see the entire list.




Absolute Beginner's Guide to iPod and iTunes
Absolute Beginner's Guide to iPod and iTunes
ISBN: 789731770
EAN: N/A
Year: 2003
Pages: 194

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