Mac OS X to the Max: More on iTunes Music

In this section, you will see a list of iTunes keyboard shortcuts, get an overview of using iTunes to listen to music on the Internet, learn about some commands on the Advanced menu, see how you can use iTunes to convert music files into various formats, and learn how iTunes music is organized.

Using iTunes Keyboard Shortcuts

Table 18.2 lists helpful iTunes keyboard shortcuts.

Table 18.2. iTunes Keyboard Shortcuts

Menu	Command	Shortcut
Not on a menu	Change Columns Being Displayed	-click a column heading
Not on a menu	Play Selected Song	Return
Not on a menu	Reshuffle the Current Playlist	Option-click-Shuffle button
Not on a menu	Uncheck/Check All Songs in the Current List	-click a song's check box
Advanced	Open Stream	-U
Controls	Eject Disc	-E
Controls	Mute	-Option-down arrow
Controls	Next Song	-right arrow
Controls	Play/Pause	Spacebar
Controls	Previous Song	-left arrow
Controls	Volume Down	-down arrow
Controls	Volume Up	-up arrow
Edit	Hide/Show Browser	-B
Edit	Select All	-A
Edit	Select None	Shift--A
Edit	Show/Hide Artwork	-G
Edit	View Options	-J
File	Add to Library	-O
File	Get Info	-I
File	Import	Shift--O
File	New Playlist	-N
File	New Playlist From Selection	Shift--N
File	New Smart Playlist	Option--N
File	Show Current Song	-L
File	Show Song File	-R
iTunes	Preferences	-,
Visualizer	Full Screen	-F
Visualizer	Turn Visualizer On/Off	-T
Window	Hide/Show Equalizer	-2
Window	Hide/Show iTunes Window	-1

Using iTunes to Listen to Internet Radio

You can use iTunes to listen to various Internet radio broadcasts. To do so, follow these steps:

1.	Select Radio as the source. The application downloads the current list of available genres and presents them in the Content pane.
2.	Click the expansion triangle next to a genre to view the channels available in that genre.
3.	Select the channel you want to play and press the spacebar.

The selected channel begins to stream to your Mac; when the prebuffer is full, it begins to play.

TIP

You can also double-click a stream to play it.

When you first select the Radio source, iTunes downloads the list of available genres and channels. You can refresh this list at any time by clicking the Action button, which is the Refresh button when the Radio Tuner source is selected.

When iTunes plays audio from the Internet, it first stores it in a buffer so it can play back smoothly even if your Internet connection is slow or is getting interrupted. If you experience starting and stopping when listening to Internet sources, adjust the size of the iTunes buffer. Do this by using the Streaming Buffer Size pop-up menu on the Advanced pane of the iTunes Preferences window.

Some of the channels are live, whereas some are just large playlists stored on the Internet. When you listen to one that is a playlist, it is repeated until you stop playing it.

Using iTunes Advanced Commands

The iTunes Advanced menu contains the following commands:

• Open Stream This command enables you to enter the URL of an audio stream to listen to it.

• Convert Selection to Format You'll learn about this in the next section.

• Consolidate Library Use this command to move copies of all the music you are managing in iTunes but that is currently stored outside the iTunes folder into the iTunes folder.

• Get CD Track Names When you select an audio CD, use this command to update its song information from the Internet.

• Submit CD Track Names If iTunes is unable to find a CD, you can use this command to submit track information to the database.

• Join CD Tracks Use this command to combine tracks on a CD into a single track with no gaps between the songs. Select the tracks you want to join and then select the command. The tracks are played as a unit.

• Remove Audible Account Use this command to remove the Audible.com account from your Mac. If you haven't configured any Audible content on your machine, you won't see this command.

• Authorize/Deauthorize Computer Use the Authorize command to enable a Mac to play music you have purchased from the iTunes Music Store. Use the Deauthorize command when you want to remove the current Mac from being one of five allowed to play music you have purchased from the iTunes Music Store.

• Check for Purchased Music Use this to ensure that you have downloaded all the music you have purchased, such as when your Internet connection is interrupted while you are downloading music from the store.

• Convert ID3 Tags Use this command to convert the tag information among various formats. If the tags for songs you add to your Library are incorrect, you can try this command to see whether you can correct them. You can also use this command if you want to share music with an application that doesn't use the same tag format iTunes does.

Using iTunes to Convert Files into Various Audio Formats

You can use iTunes to convert song files (or any other audio file for that matter) that is stored in its Library into any of the file formats iTunes supports. Use the following steps to do so:

1.	Open the Importing pane of the iTunes Preferences window.
2.	Choose and configure the format into which you want to convert some audio files. For example, if you want to create WAV files, select the WAV encoder.
3.	Click OK to set the encoder preferences.
4.	Select the tracks you want to convert.
5.	Select Advanced, Convert Selection to Format, where Format is the name of the format you selected in step 2. iTunes will create a second version of the tracks you selected in the format you chose.

Files you convert are added to your iTunes Library. Unfortunately, iTunes does not change the name of the tracks it converts, so depending on the columns you are displaying, the files might look identical to you. Use the Info window to determine which file is in which format. Or, add the Kind column to the view to display the formats of the listed tracks.

If you want to see the file you converted in a Finder window, select it and press -R.

As you convert files, you'll end up with duplicate tracks. Sometimes you want these duplicates and sometimes you don't. To see all duplicates in your Library, select Edit, Show Duplicate Songs. All tracks for which there is more than one version will be shown in the Content pane. You can then delete any duplicates you don't need. To return to the normal view again, click the Show All Songs button.

Keeping Your iTunes Music Files Organized

It can be helpful to understand how and where iTunes stores the music you have added to the Library.

The Library doesn't actually contain any musicits contents consist of a listing of pointers to MP3, AAC, and other files stored on your Mac. However, each track is actually a file stored on your machine. The files that make up the iTunes Library are organized by artist and album and by default are stored in the following directory: username/Music/iTunes/ iTunes Music, where username is the Home folder for a user account.

You can find the location of any song in your Library by selecting it and selecting File, Show Song File or by pressing -R. A Finder window showing the song's file will open and the file will be highlighted.

TIP

If you have added songs to your library that are scattered all over your Mac, select Advanced, Consolidate Library to have iTunes place copies of all your music in the iTunes folder. This organizes all your music files in a single step.

The music files you add to the Library using the Add to Library command are stored wherever they were stored when you start the add process. You should organize music you download in a central location. If you are going to add the songs you download into iTunes, you should store them in the iTunes Music folder, just as iTunes would do if it encoded the files for you. This helps keep your music organized in a consistent fashion.

You can use the iTunes Music Folder Location preference on the Advanced pane of the iTunes Preferences dialog box to change the location of your iTunes Music folder. For example, if you want to share the music you encode with other users of your Mac, you should store it in your Public folder. Other users can then add that music to their iTunes Libraries and create their own playlists. Or, you might want to do this if your startup volume doesn't have a lot of room and you want to store your music elsewhere, such as on an external drive.

A couple of other preferences on the Advanced pane are related to keeping your music well organized. Set these with the following steps:

1.	Open the Advanced pane of the iTunes Preferences window.
2.	If you want to change the location in which iTunes stores music in the Library, click the Change button. Use the resulting Change Music Folder Location dialog box to move to and select a new folder. Click Open. From that point forward, iTunes will store music you import in the folder you selected. TIP If you want to change where your existing iTunes Music folder is located, copy it to the new location before you do step 2. Then, when you perform step 2, select the Music folder you just copied. After you have confirmed that the new folder contains all your music, you can delete the original one.
3.	Make sure the "Keep iTunes Music folder organized" preference is selected. This keeps all your music organized according to the standard iTunes scheme.
4.	Check the "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library" check box. This causes iTunes to make a copy of any tracks you add to the Library and place the copies in the iTunes folder just like music you import. TIP If you have iTunes copy files you add, you can delete the original files after they have been added to the iTunes Library. If you don't do this, you'll have two copies of the file: the original one and the copy that iTunes creates.
5.	Click OK. Your music will be organized according to your preferences.

TIP

To return the Music folder to its default location, move your music folder to the original location and click the Reset button on the Advanced pane of the Preferences dialog box.