Upgrading iTunes

[Late]

I'm still using version 7 of iTunes. Version 8 is now somewhere around 8.1.1 (or something like that). Is the latest version worth the upgrade? I only use iTunes for music (no movies, TV, etc.), and rarely use the iTunes store itself.

Thanks for any comments/suggestions!

[Quincy]

I'm still using version 7 of iTunes. Version 8 is now somewhere around 8.1.1 (or something like that). Is the latest version worth the upgrade? I only use iTunes for music (no movies, TV, etc.), and rarely use the iTunes store itself.

One of the stated objectives for the update was to make it speedier. I think they succeeded. It also fixes some bugs and does a bunch of other little things that may not apply relating to iPods, store matters and adds Genius (which I have yet to mess with) to the sidebar.

[NavSJ]

It is 10 times faster to process stuff now. No more dreaded beachball of death.

[Late]

I upgraded. Disabled the Genius and DJ functions, and it works like a charm. You're right: much faster.

Edited April 14, 2009 by Late

[crisp]

When I started using iTunes I spent a lot of time inputting album info, including assigning all compilations a "Zzzzz [Genre]" label in Album Artist, so they would be grouped by compilation title. The last upgrade wrecked that, arranging them by Artist even when Album Artist was selected. I've looked for a solution on the web, but the situation seems to be that it can't be fixed. Thanks, Apple!

That annoyed me so much I lost all interest in using iTunes. I have just upgraded and the glitch is still there. When I have more time, I will look into switching to Winamp in the hope that it is better and won't be subject to sudden destructive changes like this. Really hate iTunes now.

[Late]

When I started using iTunes I spent a lot of time inputting album info, including assigning all compilations a "Zzzzz [Genre]" label in Album Artist, so they would be grouped by compilation title. The last upgrade wrecked that, arranging them by Artist even when Album Artist was selected. I've looked for a solution on the web, but the situation seems to be that it can't be fixed. Thanks, Apple!

That annoyed me so much I lost all interest in using iTunes. I have just upgraded and the glitch is still there. When I have more time, I will look into switching to Winamp in the hope that it is better and won't be subject to sudden destructive changes like this. Really hate iTunes now.

Have you tried use the "Sorting" tab in preferences? This should remedy the situation, I think. You can keep the artist name the same, but sort using a tag of your creation. For compilations, I just label the artist Various Artists; as a result, all my comps pop up in the V section. But you can sort by any criteria (doesn't have to be alphabetical), as long as you create the criteria.

[Jim R]

When I started using iTunes I spent a lot of time inputting album info, including assigning all compilations a "Zzzzz [Genre]" label in Album Artist, so they would be grouped by compilation title. The last upgrade wrecked that, arranging them by Artist even when Album Artist was selected. I've looked for a solution on the web, but the situation seems to be that it can't be fixed. Thanks, Apple!

That annoyed me so much I lost all interest in using iTunes. I have just upgraded and the glitch is still there. When I have more time, I will look into switching to Winamp in the hope that it is better and won't be subject to sudden destructive changes like this. Really hate iTunes now.

Have you tried use the "Sorting" tab in preferences? This should remedy the situation, I think. You can keep the artist name the same, but sort using a tag of your creation. For compilations, I just label the artist Various Artists; as a result, all my comps pop up in the V section. But you can sort by any criteria (doesn't have to be alphabetical), as long as you create the criteria.

? I have my own method*, and am not looking to change, but this puzzled me. I opened iTunes preferences, and see no tabs for sorting options. Am I overlooking something, or could it be (for example) that I'm on a Mac and you're on a PC? Just curious.

*The only sorting method I use for iTunes is to keep "date added" as one of my regular tabs as chosen in the "view" menu, and always having the most recent additions at the top of the list as a result of having selected the "date added" tab as a default setting which I haven't changed. Rather than keeping things sorted by artist and having to scroll for what I'm looking for, I just use the search window when I want to find an artist, song, genre, or whatever. I think iTunes is a lot more flexible than some folks realize (probably myself included! ). Maybe there's a workable solution there somewhere for crisp...?

[.:.impossible]

I don't see a difference in response time, after upgrading today. Maybe I need to reboot?

I have an external hd connected via firewire (approx 170GB so far).

I only ever use itunes to manually sync ipods...

[Drew Peacock]

To sort, go to column mode and click the column header that you want it sorted by. It toggles between A-Z and Z-A. I don't think you can get sub sorts.

I hate the Genius feature. Its designed for pop tunes, not jazz. If it knows the artist, which in my case is way less than 50% of the time, then Genius is supposed to fine similar tunes. No matter what I put in, I get my wife's smooth jazz artists collection as the closest fit. I'm sure David Ware would be pleased to know that he sounds like Diane Krall.

I bought a secondary market piece of software called iTunesFixit. It helps find missing artwork, composer names, etc. The only downside I've found so far is that it favors European Album Art and metadata over US tags. I'm actually okay with this as long as it gets the song info correct. The application does crash if you ask it to do too much all at once. The company knows of this bug and is releasing a fix as soon as its ready. Work in small batches of 1,000 tunes or less and you should be fine.

[mellowT]

The only thing I don't like about the new iTunes is that they got rid of the option where it would start playing the CD you're importing once the first track was finished. I really liked that option and have no idea what made Apple take it away.

[Jim R]

To sort, go to column mode and click the column header that you want it sorted by. It toggles between A-Z and Z-A. I don't think you can get sub sorts.

That's what I do (or shall I say, "did", because I leave it that was 99.9% of the time), but I didn't explain it very well above. You can pick and choose the categories to be listed in the columns ("view options" in the view menu), so you can sort by any category. These "columns" appear in two of the three view modes ("list" mode and "cover flow" mode; but not in "grid" mode).

Again, I rarely bother to change the way I have things displayed (I use cover flow mode, and leave things sorted by "date added", with the most recent addition at the top), and I almost never sort by artist or title or anything else, because the search function is so efficient. Unlike most search functions, you get an instant results list every time you add a letter to the search, and it only takes seconds to bring up a list for a particular artist (leader or not), song title, or album. For compilations, I use "various artists" in the "album artist" field. If I wanted to find a particular compilation, I would just type "various" as well as a key word (one of the artist's names, part of the title, or whatever) into the search box. With over 60 GB of material in there, it would actually be MUCH harder for me to find something via scrolling had I chosen to sort things alphabetically.

I hate the Genius feature. Its designed for pop tunes, not jazz. If it knows the artist, which in my case is way less than 50% of the time, then Genius is supposed to fine similar tunes.

I agree- it's useless, and I disabled it also.

I still don't understand the "sorting tab in preferences" reference...

[Late]

I still don't understand the "sorting tab in preferences" reference...

My mistake. It's not viewable from Preferences. Go to "Get Info" from the drop-down File, and then a window will pop up. The tabs are:

Summary ~ Info ~ Video ~ Sorting ~ Options ~ Lyrics ~ Artwork

When you click on Sorting, you'll get that song's information (i.e. track name, album name, etc.). You can then enter the criteria you want (e.g. year) in one of the "Sort" boxes (though there's actually no "Sort Year" box; I use the "Sort Album" box). The default for iTunes is to sort alphabetically by artist first name, and then alphabetically by album name. This can be changed with the Sorting feature. I had to play around with it a bit, but now my iTunes library is sorted by artist, and within artist by year.

I hope that helps some to clarify!

[JPF]

The last time I upgraded iTunes, from 6 to 7, I thought it would just overwrite the application with the new "improvements" and leave everything else the way I had it set up. No such luck. It completely destroyed the playlists and other categories I had set up. It didn't lose any of the music; just randomly scattered my music throughout the computer. It took me a couple of weeks of painstaking work to reconstruct everything and it's still not exactly the way it was before.

Now I'm afraid to upgrade to 8; is this going to happen again?

[.:.impossible]

I wouldn't think so JPF, but I've never lost a playlist. That I remember...

[crisp]

I still don't understand the "sorting tab in preferences" reference...

My mistake. It's not viewable from Preferences. Go to "Get Info" from the drop-down File, and then a window will pop up. The tabs are:

Summary ~ Info ~ Video ~ Sorting ~ Options ~ Lyrics ~ Artwork

When you click on Sorting, you'll get that song's information (i.e. track name, album name, etc.). You can then enter the criteria you want (e.g. year) in one of the "Sort" boxes (though there's actually no "Sort Year" box; I use the "Sort Album" box). The default for iTunes is to sort alphabetically by artist first name, and then alphabetically by album name. This can be changed with the Sorting feature. I had to play around with it a bit, but now my iTunes library is sorted by artist, and within artist by year.

I hope that helps some to clarify!

Late, you're a genius. I've done a provisional update using this method on the Various Artists comps and one of the Mosaics and it works like a charm. Many thanks. Still don't understand why Apple changed it, though -- it was fine as it was!

[Late]

I've done a provisional update ... and it works like a charm.

I'm glad it worked! I like iTunes as a sort of virtual Rolodex, but have never been intrigued by the store or any of the latest features. I do like how you can get full-screen cover art, and faster speed is always a plus.

One trick (which you probably already know and/or use) to alphabetize by last name (using Al Cohn as an example) is to make "Cohn, Al" the album artist and "Al Cohn" the artist. It actually took me a while to figure that one out.

And if you want an album dead last in your Rolodex, simply label only the track name (which can include artist + album + track title), and delete any information in all the other boxes. I do this for some vinyl rips of 45s, so that "singles" go at the end of my iTunes library.

Finding original cover art is probably my favorite thing to do when it comes to setting up an iTunes library. And also straightening things out like Kenny Dorham's "Osmosis" = Dave Bailey's "Bash!"

I do all this probably out of obsessive compulsive tendencies. And I don't even own an iPod. :blush2:

[Jim R]

I still don't understand the "sorting tab in preferences" reference...

My mistake. It's not viewable from Preferences. Go to "Get Info" from the drop-down File, and then a window will pop up. The tabs are:

Summary ~ Info ~ Video ~ Sorting ~ Options ~ Lyrics ~ Artwork

When you click on Sorting, you'll get that song's information (i.e. track name, album name, etc.). You can then enter the criteria you want (e.g. year) in one of the "Sort" boxes (though there's actually no "Sort Year" box; I use the "Sort Album" box). The default for iTunes is to sort alphabetically by artist first name, and then alphabetically by album name. This can be changed with the Sorting feature. I had to play around with it a bit, but now my iTunes library is sorted by artist, and within artist by year.

I hope that helps some to clarify!

Thanks, Late. I had never looked at that sorting tab.

At any rate, it would be a tremendous amount of work for me to go back and enter new data in order to be able to do an alphabetical sort by artist's last name, and I'm trying to think of a reason why it would be helpful. I understand why people (including me) keep their CD collections alphabetized on the shelf, but in iTunes, I'm not sure what advantage there is in keeping them sorted. Like I said, when you have a lot of music (currently over 60 GB in my case), scrolling through a sorted list in order to locate something takes a long time. The search function finds whatever you want instantly. If I did want to see a chronologically sorted list of recordings by a particular artist, I would just type in the artist's name into "search", and then click on the "year" heading to sort by year.

[John L]

When I started using iTunes I spent a lot of time inputting album info, including assigning all compilations a "Zzzzz [Genre]" label in Album Artist, so they would be grouped by compilation title. The last upgrade wrecked that, arranging them by Artist even when Album Artist was selected. I've looked for a solution on the web, but the situation seems to be that it can't be fixed. Thanks, Apple!

That annoyed me so much I lost all interest in using iTunes. I have just upgraded and the glitch is still there. When I have more time, I will look into switching to Winamp in the hope that it is better and won't be subject to sudden destructive changes like this. Really hate iTunes now.

Have you tried use the "Sorting" tab in preferences? This should remedy the situation, I think. You can keep the artist name the same, but sort using a tag of your creation. For compilations, I just label the artist Various Artists; as a result, all my comps pop up in the V section. But you can sort by any criteria (doesn't have to be alphabetical), as long as you create the criteria.

Strange. I have always though that iTunes gives fine options for multi-artist compilations. You just have to label them "compilations" in iTunes and make sure that the compilation function on your iPod is turned on. Then you can select "compilations" and just see compilations, whether in iTunes or on the iPod. Individual tracks can by labeled by individual artist rather than "various artists" and iTunes will still store the album in the "compilations" folder. The only problem is that the CDDB database often has CDs misdesignated as compilations or not compilations. That sometimes (but not always) comes from the ambiguity that the word "compilation" can also be used to describe a single artist collection. So you need to check that before you rip into iTunes (or edit afterwards).

[crisp]

Thanks again for all the useful tips, guys. Like the term "virtual Rolodex".

[mjzee]

What I would like is a larger area to put notes for an album: who plays on it, date recorded, etc. There is a large area, but only on a per-song basis.

[Jim R]

What I would like is a larger area to put notes for an album: who plays on it, date recorded, etc. There is a large area, but only on a per-song basis.

I'm not sure I follow that. For every album I add to iTunes, I indicate the date (year) it was recorded in the "year" field (again, you can select which fields you wish to display by choosing "view options" from the View menu). Generally, I enter that data on a per-album basis, not per-song, although in cases where different songs were recorded in different years, it can be done per-song. To do it on a per-album basis, simply select all the songs on a given album by holding down the shift key, then choose "get info" from the File menu (I use the command-I keyboard shortcut). Any data you enter in any field (artist, title, year, etc) will automatically be entered for every song on the album. Then if you want to change the data in any field for a single song from the album, just highlight that song and choose "get info" again. Hopefully that was easy to follow... it's become a simple routine for me by now.

As for personnel, I always enter the data into the "comments" field. This works fine in iTunes, although for some reason this data doesn't seem to be accessible on the ipod.

[Bluesnik]

i just changed the location of ITunes from one computer to another one and i lost all my playlists and the music. the new ITunes would be empty. i think the reason for this is that i didn't use the old Library. I tried copying it over and telling ITunes where it's supposed to be, but to no awail. i guess, and my conversations with heavy users of the program confirm it, that you have to fight hard with ITunes to achieve it. same with the playlists.i intend on ebilding them rescuing all my previous ones to the new location. i just reimported my whole music into the new. and i intend doing it via the Library even if i have to lose my present import. the thing will be that then i will need a tool to edit the Library to change the drive letter from that of the former internal disc to that of th enew and bigger external disc.

[mjzee]

What I would like is a larger area to put notes for an album: who plays on it, date recorded, etc. There is a large area, but only on a per-song basis.

I'm not sure I follow that. For every album I add to iTunes, I indicate the date (year) it was recorded in the "year" field (again, you can select which fields you wish to display by choosing "view options" from the View menu). Generally, I enter that data on a per-album basis, not per-song, although in cases where different songs were recorded in different years, it can be done per-song. To do it on a per-album basis, simply select all the songs on a given album by holding down the shift key, then choose "get info" from the File menu (I use the command-I keyboard shortcut). Any data you enter in any field (artist, title, year, etc) will automatically be entered for every song on the album. Then if you want to change the data in any field for a single song from the album, just highlight that song and choose "get info" again. Hopefully that was easy to follow... it's become a simple routine for me by now.

As for personnel, I always enter the data into the "comments" field. This works fine in iTunes, although for some reason this data doesn't seem to be accessible on the ipod.

I'm aware of all of that. The "comments" field has a limited number of characters (about 4 lines worth). It will not hold, for example, all personnel of a big band without severe abbreviation. And, as you observe, this information is not visible on an iPod. The "Lyrics" field is much larger, and can be viewed on an iPod; however, data must be entered there on a per-song basis.

[Jim R]

Okay, I see what you mean. Yeah, when I enter data for a big band, I just list the players and omit what instrument they're playing (which I know anyway most of the time). I think there's room for about 20 names in the comments field, which is generally enough for me.

I've never entered any data in the "lyrics" field in iTunes. Is that why it doesn't seem to be available in my viewing options on my iPod (Classic), or am I missing something?

[mjzee]

Okay, I see what you mean. Yeah, when I enter data for a big band, I just list the players and omit what instrument they're playing (which I know anyway most of the time). I think there's room for about 20 names in the comments field, which is generally enough for me.

I've never entered any data in the "lyrics" field in iTunes. Is that why it doesn't seem to be available in my viewing options on my iPod (Classic), or am I missing something?

I've never done it either. As per Apple's documentation:

To view lyrics on iPod classic while a song is playing:

On the Now Playing screen, press the Center button until you see the lyrics. The screen

displays the lyrics, which you can use the Click Wheel to scroll through as the song

plays.