iTunes


iTunes is a computer-based "jukebox" that enables you to do several things:

  • Play MP3 and AAC format audio files.

  • Record music from audio CDs on your Macintosh as AAC and MP3 files.

  • Buy music from the iTunes Music Store.

  • Create custom CDs of your favorite music.

  • Save AAC and MP3 files to an iPod and save MP3 files to other MP3 players.

  • Listen to Internet-based radio stations.

The next few pages explain how you can use iTunes to record and play MP3 music, copy MP3 files to an iPod, and burn audio CDs.

Tips

  • MP3 and AAC are standard formats for audio files.

  • Your computer must have a CD-R drive or SuperDrive to burn CDs.


To set up iTunes

1.

Double-click the iTunes icon in your Applications folder (Figure 1).

2.

If a license agreement window appears, click Accept.

3.

The iTunes Setup Assistant window appears (Figure 119). Read the welcome message, and click Next.

Figure 119. The first screen of the iTunes Setup Assistant.


4.

In the Internet Audio window (Figure 120), set options as desired and click Next:

  • Select an Internet audio content option. Yes, use iTunes for Internet audio content instructs your computer to set your Web browser helper settings to use iTunes for all Internet audio playback. No, do not modify my Internet settings does not change your Web browser's helper settings.

  • Select an Internet connection option. Yes, automatically connect to the Internet tells iTunes that it's okay to connect to the Internet anytime it needs to. No, ask me before connecting tells iTunes to display a dialog that asks your permission before connecting to the Internet.

Figure 120. Set options for Internet playback in this screen.


5.

In the Find Music Files window (Figure 121), select an option and click Next:

  • Yes, find MP3 and AAC files in my Home folder tells iTunes to search your hard disk for music files in your Home folder (or any of its folders) and add them to you music library.

  • No, I'll add them myself later tells iTunes not to look for music files.

Figure 121. The Find Music Files window of the iTunes Setup Assistant.


6.

In the iTunes Music Store window (Figure 122), select an option:

  • Yes, take me to the iTunes Music Store connects to the Internet and displays the Home page of the iTunes Music Store when you click Done.

  • No, take me to my iTunes Library displays the contents of your iTunes Music Library when you click Done.

Figure 122. The iTunes Music Store window of the iTunes Setup Assistant.


7.

Click Done.

iTunes completes its configuration and displays the iTunes main window with either the iTunes Music Store (Figure 127) or your iTunes Library (Figure 123).

Figure 127. The iTunes Music Store is a great place to shop for music. (I think I might be its best customer.)


Figure 123. The iTunes main window. In this example, iTunes has located some music files in my Home folder and automatically imported them. It's also found some shared music from another one of my computers.


To view & listen to music by source

1.

Click one of the items in the Source list (Figure 124) to display the contents of the source:

  • Library displays all the music in your iTunes library (Figure 123).

  • Party Shuffle (Figure 125) creates a dynamic, random playlist of songs from the Library or a specific playlist.

    Figure 125. The Party Shuffle feature enables you to create your own dynamic mix of music.


  • Radio connects to the Internet and displays music streams organized by category. Click a triangle to the left of a stream category in the Song list to display a list of streams (Figure 126).

    Figure 126. The Radio source list offers access to streaming audio on the Internet.


  • Music Store connects to the Internet and displays the iTunes Music Store (Figure 127).

  • CD Name displays the contents of an audio CD inserted in your computer's CD drive.

  • Shared Music Library Name displays all the music available via network from a shared music library (Figure 128). This feature enables you to listen to music on other network users' computers. Click the triangle to the left of the shared library name to display individual playlists within that library.

    Figure 128. If you're on a network and others have shared their libraries, you can listen to their music.


  • Smart Playlist Name displays music in a smart playlist.

  • Playlist Name displays music in a playlist.

Figure 124. The Source list includes several different music sources.


2.

To play music from the library (Figure 123), party shuffle (Figure 125), audio CD, shared music library (Figure 128), or playlist, click the Play button above the Source list (Figure 129).

Figure 129. Use the playback controls to play music and set the volume.


or

To play music from a radio stream (Figure 126), double-click the name of the stream.

or

To browse music in the iTunes Music Store (Figure 127), follow the instructions in the section titled "To shop for music online" later in this section.

Tips

  • You must have access to the Internet to use the Radio and Music Store sources.

  • You can listen to a specific song in a library or playlist by double-clicking the song in the Song list.

  • Once you have begun playing music from a library or playlist, the Backward and Forward buttons become active and the Play button turns into a Stop button (Figure 130).

    Figure 130. When music is playing the playback controls change.


  • You can use buttons at the bottom of the Source list (Figure 131) to work with the list and change the way music is played.

    Figure 131. Use buttons at the bottom of the Source list to work with the list and control music play.


  • To sort the song list by one of its columns, click the column heading. Clicking the same heading again reverses the sort.

  • Clicking the Browse button in the corner of the iTunes window splits the window so you can browse a selected source by Genre, Artist, or Album (Figure 132).

    Figure 132. Click the Browse button to browse music by genre, artist, or album.



To add songs from an audio CD to the Library

1.

Insert an audio CD in your CD drive. A dialog like the one in Figure 133 appears briefly while your computer accesses the Internet to get song names. After a moment, the CD's name appears in the Source list and a list of the tracks on it appears in the song list (Figure 134).

Figure 133. iTunes accesses an Internet database to get information about the songs on a CD.


Figure 134. When you insert a CD, it appears in the Source list and a list of its songs appear in the song list.


2.

Turn on the check box beside each song you want to add to the Library. (They should already all be turned on.)

3.

Click the Import button. iTunes begins importing the first song. The status area provides progress information (Figure 135). The song may play while it is imported.

Tips

  • Sometime during step 1, iTunes may ask your permission to connect to the Internet. It must do this to retrieve information about the songs on the CD. If you don't connect to the Internet, song names do not appear in the Song list.

    Figure 135. iTunes shows the import progress at the top of its window and puts an importing icon beside the song currently being imported in the song list.


  • You can specify whether a song plays while it is imported by setting iTunes preferences. Choose iTunes > Preferences and click the Importing button to get started.

  • When iTunes is finished importing songs, it plays a sound. In most cases, iTunes will finish importing songs from a CD before it finishes playing them.

  • When you are finished importing songs from a CD, select the CD name in the Source list and click the Eject button in the lower right corner of the iTunes window (Figure 134) to eject the disc.


To import music files on disk to the Library

Drag the icon for the music file from the Desktop or a Finder window to the iTunes window (Figure 136).

Figure 136. Importing an audio file on disk is as easy as dragging it into the iTunes window.


After a moment, the song appears in the Library window (Figure 137).

Figure 137. The song you dragged in appears in the iTunes Library window.


Tips

  • You can use this technique to add a bunch of music files at once. Simply select their icons and drag any one of them into the window. I explain how to select multiple icons in the Finder in Chapter 2.

  • You could also use the Add to Library command on the iTunes File menu, but I think the drag-and-drop technique is quicker and easier.


To export songs from the iTunes Library as audio files

Drag the name of the song you want to export from the iTunes Library window to the Desktop or a Finder window (Figure 138).

Figure 138. Exporting a song as an audio file is as easy as dragging it from the iTunes window to a Finder window.


After a moment, an audio file icon for the exported song appears in the Finder (Figure 139).

Figure 139. An icon for the exported MP3 file appears where the song was dragged.


Tip

  • You can use this technique to export a bunch of audio files at once. Simply hold down while clicking each song you want to select. Then drag any one of them into the Finder window.


To create a playlist

1.

Click the New Playlist button (Figure 131), choose File > New Playlist, or press .

2.

A new untitled playlist appears in the Source list (Figure 140). Type a name for the playlist, and press (Figure 141).

Figure 140. Clicking the New Playlist button creates a new, untitled playlist.


Figure 141. To give the playlist a name, simply type it in and press .


To add songs to a playlist

1.

If necessary, select Library in the source window to display all music files.

2.

Drag a song you want to include in the new playlist from the Song list to the playlist name in the Source list (Figure 142).

Figure 142. To add songs to a playlist, drag them from the Song list to the playlist name.


3.

Repeat step 2 for each song you want to add to the playlist.

4.

When you're finished adding songs, click the playlist name. The songs appear in the list.

Tips

  • In step 2, you can select and drag multiple songs. Hold down while selecting songs to select more than one, then drag any one of them.

  • You can change the order of songs in a playlist by dragging them up or down.

  • You can sort songs in a playlist by clicking a column heading. Clicking once sorts in ascending order; clicking twice sorts in descending order.


To remove a song from a playlist

1.

Select the song you want to remove.

2.

Press . The song is removed from the playlist.

Tip

  • Removing a song from a playlist does not remove it from the iTunes Library.


To create a smart playlist

1.

Choose File > New Smart Playlist or press to display the Smart Playlist dialog (Figure 143).

Figure 143. The Smart Playlist dialog.


2.

Choose an option from the first pop-up menu (Figure 144), and set criteria using options on that line.

Figure 144. Use this pop-up menu to specify the type of criteria you want to match.


3.

To add additional matching criteria, click the + button. The dialog expands to offer an additional line for criteria. Set criteria as desired in this line. You can repeat this step as necessary to set all criteria. Figure 145 shows an example with multiple criteria set.

Figure 145. Here's an example of smart playlist settings with multiple criteria.


4.

If you set up multiple criteria in step 3, choose an option from the Match pop-up menu:

  • All matches all criteria you set. This narrows down the search and produces fewer matches. Keep in mind that if criteria is mutually exclusive (for example, "Genre contains Jazz" and "Genre contains New Age") no items will be found.

  • Any matches any criteria. This expands the search and produces more matches.

5.

To limit the size of the playlist by time, file size, or number of songs, turn on the Limit to check box, choose an option from the pop-up menu (Figure 146), and enter a value in the box beside it. You can also use the selected by pop-up menu in that line (Figure 147) to specify how songs should be chosen.

Figure 146. Use this pop-up menu to specify how you want to limit the selection.


Figure 147. Use this pop-up menu to specify how iTunes should select songs when you limit the selection.


6.

To match only songs that are checked in the song list, turn on the Match only checked songs check box.

7.

To automatically update the playlist each time songs are added or removed from the Library, turn on the Live updating check box.

8.

Click OK.

9.

A new smart playlist appears in the Source list with a suggested name based on what you entered. When the list is selected, you can see the songs iTunes selected (Figure 148).

Figure 148. iTunes selected these songs, based on the criteria shown in Figure 150.


Tip

  • The types of criteria iTunes can use (Figure 149) are divided into two categories: information you can change and information you can't change. To see (and change) information for a song, select the song in the song list and choose File > Get Info or press . Figures 149 and 150 show examples of two panes of information for a song. Explore this feature on your own.

    Figure 149 &150. Two examples of the Info window for a song: Info (top) and Options (bottom).



To delete a playlist

1.

In the source window, select the playlist you want to delete (Figure 148).

2.

Press .

3.

In the confirmation dialog that appears, click Yes. The playlist is removed.

Tip

  • Deleting a playlist does not delete the songs on the playlist from your music library.


To manually copy songs or playlists to an iPod or other MP3 player

1.

Using the USB or FireWire cable that came with your iPod or other MP3 player, connect it to your Macintosh and, if necessary, turn it on.

2.

If iTunes is not already running or does not automatically open, launch it. After a moment, the MP3 player should appear in the Source list (Figure 151).

Figure 151. Your iPod or MP3 player should appear in the Source list, like my iPod photo, which I named "PEC" (short for "Personal Entertainment Center") does.


3.

Drag the song(s) or playlist you want to copy to the iPod or MP3 player from the Song or Source list to the iPod or MP3 player in the Source list (Figure 152). The status area indicates copy progress.

Figure 152. Drag the song from the song list to the iPod or MP3 player.


4.

Repeat step 3 for each song or playlist you want to copy.

5.

When you are finished copying songs or playlists, you can select the iPod or MP3 player in the Source list and click the Eject button to unmount it. You can then disconnect it from your Macintosh.

Tips

  • If iTunes was already running when you connected your MP3 player and it did not list the MP3 player in the Source list, quit iTunes and relaunch it. If it still doesn't appear, your MP3 player may not be compatible with iTunes. Check the iTunes Web site for assistance: www.apple.com/itunes/.

  • In step 3, you can select and drag multiple songs. Hold down while selecting songs to select more than one, then drag any one of them. You can only copy one playlist at a time.

  • The number of songs you can copy to an iPod or MP3 player is limited by the amount of storage in the player and the size of the songs.

  • When you copy a playlist, any songs in the playlist that are not already on the iPod are also copied.

  • If your iPod is automatically updated when you connect it to your computer, you cannot manually copy songs to it using these steps. Follow the instructions in the section titled "To set iPod options" on the next page to set up your iPod so you can manage songs manually.


To set iPod options

1.

Using the FireWire or USB cable that came with your iPod, connect it to your Macintosh. If iTunes is not already running, it launches, and the iPod appears in the Source list (Figure 151).

2.

Select the iPod in the source list and click the Display iPod Options button in the bottom-right corner of the iTunes window. The iPod preferences window appears.

3.

If necessary, click the Music button to display music options (Figure 153).

Figure 153. Music options of iPod preferences.


4.

Select one of the update radio buttons:

  • Automatically update all songs and playlists automatically copies all songs in iTunes to your iPod when you connect it to your Macintosh.

  • Automatically update selected play-lists only automatically copies all songs in the playlists you select to your iPod when you connect it to your Macintosh. If you select this option, be sure to turn on the check box beside each playlist you want to copy.

  • Manually manage songs and playlists enables you to manually copy songs and playlists from iTunes to your iPod when you connect it to your Macintosh. If you select this option, you'll have to follow the instructions on the previous page to copy songs and playlists to your iPod.

5.

Toggle check boxes for other music options:

  • Only update checked songs copies only the songs that are checked off in the iTunes Song list. This option can only be selected if one of the automatic update radio buttons is selected in step 4.

  • Display album artwork on your iPod displays album artwork for a song when your iPod plays the song. This option is only avaiable for iPod photo.

6.

If you have an iPod photo, click the Photos button to display Photo options (Figure 154).

Figure 154. Photos options in iPod preferences with iPhoto selected for synchronization.


or

If you do not have an iPod photo, skip ahead to step 10.

7.

To copy photos to your iPod photo, turn on the Synchronize photos from check box and choose a source location for the photos you want to copy from the pop-up menu.

8.

If you chose iPhoto in step 7 (Figure 154), select a radio button for which photos should be copied:

  • Copy all photos and albums copies all photos and all albums in iPhoto.

  • Copy selected albums only copies only the photos and albums in the albums you select. Be sure to turn on the check box beside each album you want to include.

or

If you choose a folder in step 7 (Figure 155), select a radio button for which photos should be copied:

  • Copy all photos copies all photos in the folder you selected, as well as in its subfolders.

  • Copy selected folders only copies only the photos in the folders you select. Be sure to turn on the check box beside each folder you want to include.

Figure 155. Photos options in iPod preferences with the Pictures folder selected for synchronization.


9.

To include a full-size copy of each photo in the disk space on your iPod, turn on the Include full-resolution photos check box.

10.

Click the General button to display General options (Figure 156).

Figure 156. General options in iPod preferences.


11.

Toggle check boxes to set options:

  • Open iTunes when this iPod is attached automatically launches iTunes when you connect your iPod.

  • Enable disk use mounts the iPod on your desktop so you can copy files to it like any other disk. This option can only be selected if one of the automatic update radio buttons is selected in step 4.

12.

Click OK to save your settings.

Tips

  • If you have more songs in iTunes than will fit on your iPod, you should choose the second or third radio button in step 4 to automatically or manually update your iPod with less than all of the music in iTunes.

  • In step 8, iPhoto must be installed to appear in the pop-up menu. A discussion of iPhoto, which is part of Apple's iLife suite of products, is beyond the scope of this book.

  • I explain how to work with mounted disks in Chapter 3.


To burn an audio CD

1.

Create a playlist that contains the songs you want to include on the CD.

2.

Select the playlist (Figure 157).

Figure 157. Select the Playlist you want to burn to CD and click the Burn CD button.


3.

Click the Burn Disc button.

4.

When prompted, insert a blank CD in your computer's CD-R drive or SuperDrive and close the drive.

5.

When prompted, click the Burn Disc button, which is now black and yellow (Figure 158).

Figure 158. iTunes prompts you to click the Burn CD button again.


6.

Wait while iTunes prepares and burns the CD. This could take a while; the progress appears in the status window at the top of the iTunes window. You can switch to and work with other applications while you wait.

7.

When iTunes is finished burning the CD, it makes a sound. The icon for the CD appears on your desktop.

Tips

  • Your computer must have a compatible CD-R drive or SuperDrive to burn audio CDs. You can find a list of compatible devices on the iTunes Web site, www.apple.com/itunes/.

  • I explain how to create a playlist earlier in this section.

  • If the playlist you have selected will not fit on an audio CD, iTunes displays a dialog like the one in Figure 159. If you click Audio CDs, iTunes prompts you to insert a blank CD each time it needs one.

    Figure 159. This dialog appears if you try to put too many songs on an audio CD.


  • Do not cancel the disc burning process after it has begun. Doing so can render the CD unusable.


To share music with other network users

1.

Choose iTunes > Preferences.

2.

Click the Sharing button to display Sharing preferences (Figure 160).

Figure 160. Sharing preferences enable you to share iTunes music.


3.

To play music shared by other network users, turn on the Look for shared music check box. This displays any shared music libraries in the Source list (Figure 124) on your computer, so you can listen to it.

4.

To share your music with other network users, turn on the Share my music check box. Then select one of the radio buttons:

  • Share entire library shares all of your music.

  • Share selected playlists enables you to toggle check boxes for individual playlists you want to share.

5.

If you turned on the Share my music check box in step 4, enter a name for your library in the Shared name box.

6.

To require other network users to enter a password to listen to your music, turn on the Require password check box and enter a password in the box beside it.

7.

Click OK.

8.

A dialog like the one in Figure 161 may appear. Click OK.

Figure 161. This dialog appears when you enable sharing. (The Apple lawyers obviously had a hand in this one.)


Tips

  • Once sharing is enabled, the Status area in the Sharing preferences dialog reports whether your music is being accessed by other users on the network (Figure 162).

    Figure 162. Sharing status appears in the bottom of the Sharing preferences dialog.


  • I tell you more about Mac OS X's networking features in Chapter 16.


To shop in the iTunes Music Store

1.

In the Source list, select Music Store.

Your computer connects to the Internet and displays the Home page of the iTunes Music Store (Figure 127).

2.

Use any combination of the following techniques to locate and sample songs:

  • Click links in the window to browse through available albums and songs.

  • To search for a specific album, song, or artist, enter a search word or phrase in the Search box at the top-right of the iTunes window and press . Search results appear in the window (Figure 163).

    Figure 163. Search results for the word "Yes."


  • To listen to a sample of a song, double-click its name in a search results list (Figure 163).

  • To see matches for an artist (Figure 164), click an artist link or the arrow button beside the artist name in a search results list (Figure 165).

    Figure 164. Clicking an artist link displays all available albums for that artist.


    Figure 165. Clicking an album link displays a list of songs in that album.


  • To see matches for an album (Figure 165), click an album link or the arrow button beside the album name in a search results list (Figure 163).

3.

To buy a song or album, click the Buy Song or Buy Album button for it. The song or album is downloaded to your computer (Figure 166) and appears in the Purchased Music playlist (Figure 167).

Figure 166. You can monitor download progress of purchased songs at the top of the iTunes window.


Figure 167. iTunes records all your music purchases in a special Purchased Music playlist.


Tips

  • Step 2 covers only a handful of the ways you can browse the contents of the iTunes Music Store. There are far too many other navigation tools to cover here. Explore them on your own to find your favorite ways to get around the iTunes Music Store.

  • In step 3, if you are not logged into the iTunes Music Store, a dialog like the one in Figure 168 appears. If you have an Apple ID, enter it and your password and click Buy. If you don't have an Apple ID, click the Create New Account button and follow the instructions that appear onscreen to set up an Apple ID.

    Figure 168. If you are not logged in to the iTunes Music Store, a dialog like this appears when you buy music.


  • Purchased music has some limitations:

    • You can only play purchased music on up to five authorized computers iTunes will tell you if your computer isn't authorized to play a song and give you a chance to authorize it.

    • Although you can include a purchased song on any number of CDs that you burn, you can only burn up to seven CDs from an unchanged playlist.

  • If you buy as many songs as I do at the iTunes Music Store (759 songs so far), you may want to set up a shopping cart so you can download purchased music all at once at the end of a shopping spree. Choose iTunes > Preferences and click the Store button (Figure 169) to get started.

    Figure 169. Use the Store preferences dialog to customize the way the iTunes Music Store works.





Visual QuickStart Guide. Mac OS X 10. 4 Tiger
Mac Os X 10.4 Tiger (Visual Quickstart Guides)
ISBN: 0321423372
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 301
Authors: Maria Langer

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