Seriously.

When did they take this feature from "well that's alright I suppose" to "err... why is my laptop READING MY MIND"?

I particularly like the genius mixes (as opposed to the "playlist based on one track" fellow), as iTunes is clever enough to keep jiggling them round as I buy new things BUT ALSO it then pops those changes onto my phone when I sync it so I've got a couple of nicely themed and yet subtly ever-changing playlists that take no looking after and no setting up.

Yeah, so Apple are probably using the data I submit to further abuse their production staff or something, but sod it: Genius is great

I noticed that, too. The other day I had it make a genius playlist and it came out to literally be one of the best playlists I've ever had. It's honestly creepy how perfect this thing came out.

Yeah, here's one I got from the "click a song" variety.

Great little playlist.

/me rubs hands together manically.

Think it's awesome? You should use Zune. I find Genius rather pointless since it only generates lists from music you actually have. Zune lets you do it with anything on Zune Pass, it'll autoupdate, you can use it on the device itself, it won't clutter your music collection if you don't like some of the songs, and it's just about as good as iTunes at making selections.

/me brags

I would love to use Zune, but my only portable music player was given to me, and it's an ipod. not to mention I have purchased $100 worth of music in what as far as I know is an untransferrable format.

Zune and most music players support .m4a drm free itunes music.

Hehe, it does sound good.

Note to Tibby, this is when you can NEARLY use :smug:

But don't anyway.

Well then someday when I get a new portable music device, I'll have to make the switch!

iTunes won't let me use Genius with any songs by the Beatles except for the Beatles For Sale album.
Is there any reason why it would do this?

That would be great and all, if Martyn lived in the US.

Except I usually only make playlists of music I have, something you (stupidly) CAN'T do with Zune's equivalent of Genius, Mixer or whatever it's called. That or I never figured out how to use it on your own library back in the day when I had actually used my Zune 80. But you are correct in that it gave stellar recommendations.

I don't really understand the fascination people have with music. I appreciate music, but it's not an integral or important part of my life. I only listen to music during my brief commute as it comes on FM radio, or as background noise while I do something time consuming (like working on a vehicle), and even then I don't particularly care what kind of music it is. I don't have an iPod, zune, sansa or any other sort of MP3 player, and I haven't purchased (or pirated) any music since 2002. I certainly don't have the time or desire to just sit around idly and listen to music. I fail to understand the fascination with constantly hearing and hoarding music. People collect songs like they were shiny rocks.

Perhaps someone can explain it to me? I'm not trying to be facetious or mocking, I am genuinely curious.

Couldn't the same thing be said about movies?

The same thing could be said about any number of things. It still doesn't help me understand.

I think you oughtta try explaining why you don't care for it, since you're in an extremely miniscule minority... if the only answer you have is 'you just don't', then you can probably expect the opposite answer from those who do care for it.

Make a Smart DJ list. Save as Playlist. Right click it in playlist view, and go to edit.

In there you have the options to:

A. Use only collection, use a mix, or use only zune pass content.
B. Playlist duration by song or minutes.
C. Refresh rate (auto by x days, or never)

Ah, there you go! I stopped using my Zune long before 4.0, so I never saw that feature of the software. But yeah, definitely then I'd say the Zune Mixview offers a lot of options moreso than the iTunes Genius. But I do like Genius for sure as I'm not a large fan of the Zune software in general for playback and library management.

I have yet to use Genius because it requires that I allow Little Snitch to give access to buy.itunes.apple.com & I refuse to do so.


I sort of understand where you're coming from. I listen to music (or NPR) while I'm in the car because there's not much else to do. However, I also like to listen to music during those moments when I'm at home & not doing anything that takes a lot of concentration (e.g. washing the dishes). My wife & I throw a lot of dinner parties & party parties as well & it's nice to have music playing then (it adds to the atmosphere). I tend to listen to music a lot when I read as well (if I'm reading a science fiction novel, I'll play some Ambient/Electronic music). While I've traditionally been a music hoarder, I'm becoming more & more dependent on streaming. It's still necessary for me to store much of my music though because much of what I listen to is very difficult to find (e.g. rare Ambient/Electronic imports). For me, music is in the background of my life, but rarely in the foreground. I rarely even go to concerts because I don't consider much music being worth seeing live.

I was of that opinion once, then I decided to stop caring. I found that the world kept spinning AND I got cool playlists

Yes, Mentat, your life is going to be adversely affected by Apple knowing what you buy. How will you ever live with such privacy broken?

I used to never really listen to music unless I was externally subjected to hearing it. Then one day I bought David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars because I always heard it was a classic. Put it in my portable CD player, lay in bed and just listened to the album, trying to acknowledge every key. Since then I've been an active music listener and buyer! Also, when I bought my first The Flaming Lips album picking it randomly off the shelf, it just happened to be their best one to date, which certainly didn't deter me from delving further into music.

Music is meant to evoke a series of emotional responses. A lot of the time, especially with ambient rather than structural music, it's to set a mood. When adhering to a formula (whether familiar or highly experimental) it will often build up to a release (usually the chorus) which is ideally experienced as satisfactory by the listener. Then there's lyrics (excluding instrumental songs of course) that further fuel emotional response, sometimes by matching and other times by contrasting with the music.

What I'm saying to Steven here is that for those of us who derive enjoyment out of music, giving it up would anything but add to that enjoyment.

I have avoided Genius for p2paranoid reasons... but I suppose I'm going to have to try it if it's really that amazing. I'll report back in a few.

Steven:
I am a mess if I don't listen to music at night before I sleep, or in the morning as I'm getting ready. It calms me down, lets me mellow out and stop thinking, and prepare myself for the day/sleep. I remember all of the things I have to do, as the song brings me through other times I've heard it. I have an overwhelming amount of nostalgia attached to music, even something I've only heard twice. If the music can evoke a similar or complimentary emotion to an event that has happened, it becomes more memorable and significant.

Someone once suggested to me that the sentimental nature people have with objects that I cannot even begin to fathom is the feeling I have for music instead. I have never had an object or inheritance that I'd be heartbroken if it was destroyed or lost. Music however is essential and important for who I am. That said, I don't really think about music all that often. It's so essential I take it for granted, and rarely even express my love of music.

I heard on the news this morning that sometime today somebody will download the 10 billionth itunes song.

good lord. and to think i had bought stuff from there, lost my music collection, and now have no way to get it back...

i will never buy from itunes again.

If I remember correctly I remember reading an article about that circumstance and something about them allowing people to redownload all their songs . There was even a form on the website at some point. Pretty much people said that they have a 1-Time-only policy

Also, Zune will allow you multiple (I think it's 5 or more) redownloads of a song you purchased, and you can also resync all the music you have gotten off of Zune Pass as well, with one button.

So Kirb, music is almost like a narcotic for you? That doesn't seem... healthy.

I don't have any problem with listening to music. I turn the radio on while I'm driving or working on my car. But it isn't major part of my life. If I didn't hear any music for three weeks, I wouldn't be any different.

I understand that music can change moods - I use music in video projects all the time, to great effect. A simple background song (or lack thereof) can alter the entire mood and emphasis of a visual piece - no argument there. But it's just a supplement. Some people focus on music as a mainstay of their existence, which I cannot understand.

I listen to music a lot because I enjoy listening to music? Hence not listening to music would be losing something that I enjoy immensely?

It's more like listening to music is an activity that gives you pleasure. Watching the on TV or playing a fun video game might be experiences you can relate to. If I have an hour of free time I'd rather spend it listening to good music than playing games, for example. I don't know how to get more detailed than that but if you're really interested in the science reasons you could check out the book This is Your Brain on Music by Daniel Letvin.

Was there not a lot of music in your house growing up Steven?

I'm more worried about people finding out what I don't buy. I'm fairly certain that Apple doesn't really care about me or what music I have but I choose to err on the side of caution just in case (I think it has served me well as a general rule of thumb). For me, it's no different than the anonymity that I try to achieve when using any other file-sharing application &/or network. I get your point though & you're probably right. Either way, I'm not really in to downloading anything these days. 90%+ of my media comes from streaming. I usually even stream media that I already have backed up.

http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/contact.html?form=download&topic=Downloading%20iTunes%20Store%20Purchases&subtopic=Incomplete%20download

use that, email them tell them that you had a virus or somthing and it wiped your machine and back up drive, they will then allow you to re-download everything you have ever brought. Just remember to back up afterwards!

Genius is very cool, even some of the stuff it recommends for me to listen too is really quite good, the only thing is that the database can be quite large and can take up quite a lot of space.

Hmm. Sounds neat. I'll give it a shot.

Edit: Oh wow, that's cool as hell.

Zune will be international when Win7 Phone launches!:eng101:

AT CHRISTMAS.

It's Alan's annual only post, you guys. Savour this moment...and Alan, see you next year!

I like listening to the Beatles while I'm on Xbox Live.

I'm also still annoyed that Genius won't recognize them.

Yeah, it won't recognise anything not in their library. So my Streets of Rage remix mp3s are also sadly left out.

Zune recognizes The Beatles