Watch Out Pandora: iTunes 8 Hits All The Right Notes

September 12, 2008 Posted in Cool Stuff, Wired

Apple released a brand new iPod on Tuesday and while the rest of the nation was captivated by all the pretty colors and the new gizmo’s shake-to-shuffle feature, I was a little busy geeking out about the other announcement: iTunes 8.

Unlike previous incarnations, iTunes 8 is shaking up the application for the first time in years, this time with the introduction of a better visualizer, a new way to peruse your library and a handy little feature called Genius.

Apple developed Genius to effectively change the way we browse our media. It uses a smarty-pants algorithm to scan and analyze all the music in your iTunes library. The first time you fire it up, (you’ll need an Apple account to get started, by the way) Genius scours the dark corners of the internet for all of your album art.

Once its done scanning, Genius is set to go to work. When you select a song, iTunes creates a 25, 50, 75 or 100 track playlist based on that song’s genre, speed, and general mood. It’s essentially Pandora with all of your own stuff. It’s a fun tool for making a quick work-out playlist, getting ready for a party, or discovering just how much of your music sounds a lot like “Brick” by Ben Folds Five. Or, if you have thousands of songs in your library, it’s is a great way to re-introduce yourself to old favorites.

And since Apple wouldn’t be Apple without trying to sell you something, there’s Genius Sidebar, which suggests other artists or songs you should pick up from the iTunes Store.

Don’t listen to music on the computer anymore? Genius is also available on-the-go on all of the new iPods. Badass!

So try it out and let me know what you think. If you make an awesome playlist based on “Brick,” let’s talk.

[Photo courtesy of pcmag.com]

120759 Comments2008-09-12+15%3A30%3A17CC+Staff on "Watch Out Pandora: iTunes 8 Hits All The Right Notes"

Victoria W - Bingham says:
Fri, 12th Sep 200810:41 am

I love iTunes, but it'll take a lot for me to abandon my pandora. Or my songerize and songza. Or my Musicovery (the prettiest!). Hmmm. Maybe I don't love iTunes after all.

Great article, awesome summary.

Lauren, University o says:
Fri, 12th Sep 200810:49 am

OMG this thing will mke playlists for me? I can't tell if I love this or if it totally scares me.

Olua - Washington Co says:
Fri, 12th Sep 200810:57 am

So, for shits and giggles…

"Brick", Ben Folds Five. "Chocolate", Snow Patrol. "The First Day Of My Life", Bright Eyes. "Crash Into Me", Dave Matthews Band. "We're Going To Be Friends", The White Stripes. "You and I Both", Jason Mraz. "Bigger Than My Body", John Mayer. "Hurt", Nine Inch Nails. "Blister In The Sun", Violent Femmes (Not really sure how this one got on there). "Pardon Me", Incubus. "Buddy Holly", Weezer. "Dashboard", Modest Mouse. "Where Is My Mind?", Pixies. "Disarm", Smashing Pumpkins. "Who Will Save Your Soul?", Jewel. "Everyday", Dave Matthews Band. "Evil", Interpol. "You Oughta Know", Alanis Morissette. "Black Hole Sun", Soundgarden. "Sex and Candy", Marcy Playground. "Wherever You Will Go", The Calling. "Do You Realize??", The Flaming Lips. "The Way", Fastball. "No Rain", Blind Melon. "Say It Ain't So," Weezer.

Lauren, University o says:
Fri, 12th Sep 200811:52 am

That IS genius!

Samantha says:
Fri, 12th Sep 20081:08 pm

I'm so obsessed right now.

Allison says:
Fri, 12th Sep 20081:49 pm

I was so excited (especially since getting Pandora back with my high-speed internet) but I'm really not impressed.

I'm not sure how it picks the songs, but it's evidently not based on tonality or musical structure the same way Pandora is. Case in point: "Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners" by the Foo Fighters(an entirely acoustic, lyricless, guitar number) yields results such as "Little Cream Soda" by the White Stripes (hard electric start and vocals). Not quite what I was looking for.

It also doesn't include songs which iTunes doesn't recognize, which means my independently released Irish groups don't get put on playlists. I can't add songs either, if I think they go well together.

It's just not as impressive as I thought it would be, but still, cool feature.

Casey says:
Fri, 12th Sep 20086:37 pm

my computer is being retarded and not letting me download it. Ugh! How I wish I had a Mac!

Kari - Florida State says:
Fri, 12th Sep 20086:43 pm

LOVEEE ITT

Olua - Washington Co says:
Fri, 12th Sep 200810:53 pm

Casey, I have a regular ol' Dell desktop and downloaded it just fine. Have you done Microsoft software updates recently? That could be a factor.

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