Perhaps it is my OCD tendencies, but maintaining an iTunes library is a time-consuming hobby, much like a digital version of gardening. Making sure all the songs are tagged correctly, that you have the artwork downloaded, and god forbid you ever have the genres mixed up, are all part of the cultivation process. All of the artists must have the same genre selected for all of their work, except in extraordinary circumstances, like Wilco, when they really do switch genres. Beck does not meet these qualifications. Also, you must purge your library of genres that you do not use that sneak in in downloaded music, such as "Rap," whereas I prefer the broader "Hip-hop/Rap" (not that it is really broader, I mean, what is the difference, music-wise?). I do, however, like to keep my genres pretty broad. So many of the categories are ambiguous, and I feel like narrowly categorizing them makes things harder to find, not easier, and I generally don't find myself wanting to listen to really narrow subcategories while neglecting other related music. That is what playlists are for. Then there is the all-important rating process, which if not tended to neuters much of the potential of the smart playlist.
If you have a large music collection, you must not neglect this regular maintenance. It is not just your browsing experience that will suffer, but your listening experience as well. If you are a Mac user, I recommend the free utility iEatBrainz to tag music correctly, and FetchArt to collect and import artwork (both available at VersionTracker).
Posted by Matthew Pearson at April 22, 2005 08:10 PM | TrackBack