Chapter 16. Building, Browsing, Searching, and Playing Your iTunes Music Library

In This Chapter

• Know the sources of all iTunes music.

• Find out where your iTunes music will be stored and change the location if it suits your fancy.

• Maximize your music's quality/file size ratio by choosing encoding options and quality levels when you import audio CDs.

• Build your iTunes Library by importing audio CDs into it.

• Browse and search your Library like a master librarian.

• Dump music you don't want cluttering up your digital shelves.

• Add podcasts to your Library so you can enjoy a mind-boggling array of content from the comfort of your computer or iPod.

Are you ready for some real iTunes? If the material in the previous chapters covered good features of iTunes, which it did, then this chapter starts the coverage of the amazing, awesome [insert your own superlative here] features that make iTunes something to write a book about. Here is where we start taking your iTunes game to the next level, hitting some home runs, scoring touchdowns, and some other sports clichés that all good books use. It's time to start working with that mysterious Library I have mentioned a number of times but into which until now you have only had glimpses.

The iTunes Library is where you can store all your music, such as that from audio CDs and the Internet, and where any music you purchase from the iTunes Music Store is stored. After you have added music to your Library, you never have to bother with individual CDs again because you can access all your music from the Library. And, you can use the music in your Library in many ways, such as to create playlists, burn CDs, and so on.

Right now, your iTunes Library is probably sort of sad. Like a book library with no books in it, your iTunes Library is just sitting there gathering dust on its digital shelves. You will change that shortly. The first step is to add music to the Library. Then, you'll learn how to browse, search, and listen to the tunes you have added there.