Section 30. Watch for Newly Added Music Using an RSS Feed


30. Watch for Newly Added Music Using an RSS Feed

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

19 Browse the iTunes Music Store

29 Request Music from the Music Store


SEE ALSO

31 Tell a Friend About the iTunes Music Store

32 Create a Web Link to Your Favorite Music for Sale


The iTunes Music Store is certainly not without its share of obscure, technically esoteric features that the serious power user can enjoy. One of these, which is all but impossible to find within the music store interface itself, is the iTunes Music Store RSS Feed Generator.

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a mechanism by which you can "subscribe" to the URL (web address) of a dynamically updated list of pieces of information that you can browse using software usually known as an RSS reader or news reader. Software of this type exists for both Windows and the Mac; the top Windows RSS readers (NewzCrawler, FeedDemon, and NewsGator) sell for about $30 each. For Mac OS X, Shrook is a good choice, and free; if you have Mac OS X Tiger (10.4) or later, an RSS reader is built directly into the Safari browser, included as a part of the operating system.

KEY TERM

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) A mechanism for a dynamically updated series (or feed ) of items, such as in a blog or "latest news" site, that are delivered to a specialized application for quick and easy perusal.


30. Watch for Newly Added Music Using an RSS Feed


RSS feeds, as the streams of information provided by an RSS subscription are known, are most popular as alternative methods of reading weblogs (" blogs "); RSS in combination with the iTunes Music Store means you get to keep a constant eye on all the new music being added to the store in any of the categories you want to watch.

WEB RESOURCES

http://www.newzcrawler.com/

http://www.bradsoft.com/feeddemon/index.asp

http://www.newsgator.com/

NewzCrawler, FeedDemon, and NewsGator are three popular RSS readers for Windows.

http://www.fondantfancies.com/apps/shrook/

Shrook is the best-known RSS reader for the Mac (aside from Safari RSS).


1.
Locate the iTunes RSS Feed Generator

The iTunes Music Store RSS Feed Generator used to be featured as part of the music store's Home page. Nowadays, the only way to reach it is to go through the iTunes' website. In your web browser, go to http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/discover.html, the "Discover Music" section of the iTunes' site. In the lower-right corner of the page is a box labeled iTunes RSS Feeds . Click the Generate RSS Feed link.

2.
Select Genres to Watch

The Generator page features a long list of all the genres that are part of the music store. Enable and disable check boxes to indicate which genres you're interested in. Use the Check All header at the top left to select all the check boxes at once.

3.
Choose Feed Options

At the top of the page, choose which country's version of the music store you want to follow; then pick from several options in the Feed Type drop-down list: New Releases, Just Added, iTunes Top Albums , and so on. Specify a size for the feed (the number of items shown in it) and whether explicit content should be hidden or shown. For example, you can create an RSS feed that shows you all the newly added music in the Rock, Pop, and Jazz genres in the USA store, with 50 entries per page and explicit content included. Adjust the options to match your needs.

4.
Generate the RSS Feed

Click the Generate button. The header expands to show you an RSS Feed URL , which is what you need to use when subscribing your RSS reader software to the iTunes' feed. Select and copy this URL into memory.

5.
Subscribe to the RSS Feed URL

Using the "subscribe" feature of your RSS reader (which varies depending on the application you use), paste in the RSS feed URL generated by the Apple website. Your reader now keeps track of all the music that matches your specified criteria, and you can watch for interesting music without having to browse the iTunes Music Store directly. Entries in the RSS feed are links that point directly to downloadable music in the store.

If at any point you want to change the characteristics of your iTunes Music Store feed, return to the Generator site (as described in step 1) and re-create the RSS feed URL. You can subscribe to multiple feeds created at different times and view them according to your tastes. Refer to the documentation of your RSS reader software for further instructions on how to get the most out of the software in tracking music releases this way.

TIP

Another good way to watch for new music by a certain artist is to set up an Artist Alert. From any artist's discography page or album download page, click the Add Artist Alert link. From then on, whenever new music by that artist is added to the store, you will receive an email notifying you of the event. Turn off Artist Alerts in the account information page (click your Apple ID in the Account box in the upper-right corner of the iTunes' window; enter your password when prompted, and click View Account ).




iPod + iTunes for Windows and Mac in a Snap
iPod + iTunes for Windows and Mac in a Snap (2nd Edition)
ISBN: 0672328992
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 152
Authors: Brian Tiemann

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