Chapter 8

Playing and Organizing Music

You can use iTunes to create a library of music and use that library to play songs, albums, and collections of songs called playlists. You can also listen to music CDs and more.

Understanding the iTunes Library

Navigate the iTunes Window

Play a Song

Play a Music CD

Import Tracks from a Music CD

Create a Playlist

Burn Music Files to a CD

Edit Song Information

Purchase Music from the iTunes Store

Listen to an Internet Radio Station

Understanding the iTunes Library

OS X includes iTunes to enable you to play back and manage various types of audio files. iTunes also includes features for organizing and playing videos, watching movies and TV shows, and organizing apps, but iTunes is mostly concerned with audio-related media and content.

Most of your iTunes time will be spent in the library, so you need to understand the various categories — such as music and audiobooks — that iTunes uses to organize the library’s audio content. You also need to know how to configure the library to show only the categories with which you will be working.

The iTunes Library

The iTunes library is where your Mac stores the files that you can play and work with in the iTunes application. Although iTunes has some video components, its focus is on audio features, so most of the library sections are audio-related. These sections enable you to work with music, podcasts, audiobooks, ringtones, and Internet radio.

Understanding Library Categories

The Source List button in the upper-left corner of the iTunes window displays the various categories that are available in the iTunes library. The audio-related categories include Music, Podcasts, Books (for audiobooks), Ringtones, and Radio. The Store list includes items you have purchased from the iTunes Store.

Each category shows you the contents of that category and the details for each item. For example, in the Music category, you can see details such as the name of each album and the artist who recorded it.

Configuring the Library

You can configure which categories of the iTunes library appear in the Library list on the left side of the iTunes window. Click iTunes and then click Preferences to open the iTunes preferences; then click the General tab. In the Show section, click the check box for each type of content with which you want to work ( changes to ), and then click OK.

Navigate the iTunes Window

Familiarizing yourself with the various elements of the iTunes window is a good idea so that you can easily navigate and activate elements when you are ready to play audio files, music CDs, or podcasts; import and burn audio CDs; create your own playlists; or listen to Internet radio. In particular, you need to learn the iTunes playback controls, because you will use them to control the playback of almost all music you work with in iTunes.

A Playback Controls

These buttons control media playback and enable you to adjust the volume.

B Sort Buttons

These buttons sort the contents of the current iTunes category.

C Status Area

This area displays information about the item that is currently playing or the action that iTunes is currently performing.

D iTunes Store

Click this button to access the iTunes Store, which enables you to purchase songs and albums, subscribe to podcasts, and more.

E Contents

The contents of the current iTunes library source appear here.

Play a Song

You use the Music category of the iTunes library to play a song that is stored on your computer. Although iTunes offers several methods to locate the song you want to play, the easiest method is to display the albums you have in your iTunes library, and then open the album that contains the song you want to play. While the song is playing, you can control the volume to suit the music or your current location. If you need to leave the room or take a call, you can pause the song currently playing.

Play a Song

Click Music.

Click Albums.

You can also click a sort option such as Songs, Artists, or Genres.

Click the album that contains the song you want to play.

A If you want to play the entire album, click Play ().

Double-click the song you want to play.

iTunes begins playing the song.

B Information about the song playback appears here.

C iTunes displays a speaker icon () beside the currently playing song.

D If you need to stop the song temporarily, click the Pause button ().

You can also pause and restart a song by pressing the .

E You can use the Volume slider to adjust the volume (see the Tip).

Note: See the section Play a Music CD to learn more about the playback buttons.

TIP

How do I adjust the volume?

To turn the volume up or down, click and drag the Volume slider to the left (to reduce the volume) or to the right (to increase the volume). You can also press + to reduce the volume, or + to increase the volume. To mute the volume, either drag the Volume slider all the way to the left, or press ++. To restore the volume, adjust the Volume slider or press ++.

Play a Music CD

You can play your favorite music CDs in iTunes. If your Mac has an optical drive (that is, a drive capable of reading CDs and DVDs), then you can insert an audio disc in the drive and the CD appears in the Devices section of the iTunes library. When you click the CD, the iTunes contents area displays the individual tracks on the CD, and if you have an Internet connection, you see the name of each track as well as other track data. During playback, you can skip tracks, pause, and resume play.

Play a Music CD

Play a CD

Insert a music CD into your Mac’s optical drive.

A If you have an Internet connection, after a few moments iTunes shows the contents of the CD.

Note: iTunes shows the contents for most CDs, but it may not show the correct information for some discs, particularly noncommercial mixed CDs.

iTunes asks if you want to import the CD.

Click No.

Note: To learn how to import a CD, see the section Import Tracks from a Music CD.

Click the Play button ().

iTunes begins playing the CD from the first track.

Skip a Track

Click the Next button () to skip to the next track.

You can also skip to the next track by pressing +.

Click the Previous button () to skip to the beginning of the current track; click again to skip to the previous track.

You can also skip to the previous track by pressing + twice.

Pause and Resume Play

Click the Pause button () ( changes to ).

iTunes pauses playback.

Click the Play button ().

iTunes resumes playback where you left off.

TIPs

Can I change the CD’s audio levels?

Yes, iTunes has a graphic equalizer component that you can use to adjust the levels. To display the equalizer, click Window and then click Equalizer (or press ++). In the Equalizer window, use the sliders to set the audio levels, or click the pop-up menu () to choose an audio preset.

Can I display visualizations during playback?

Yes. You can click View and then click Show Visualizer (you can also press +). To change the currently displayed visualizer, click View, click Visualizer, and then click the visualization you want to view.

iTunes gives you more options for controlling the CD playback. For example, you can easily switch from one song to another on the CD. You can also use the Repeat feature to tell iTunes to start the CD over from the beginning after it has finished playing the CD. iTunes also offers the Shuffle feature, which tells iTunes to play the CD’s tracks in random order. When the CD is done, you can use iTunes to eject it from your Mac. If you want to learn how to import music from the CD to iTunes, see the section Import Tracks from a Music CD.

Play Another Song

In the list of songs, double-click the song you want to play.

iTunes begins playing the song.

Repeat the CD

Click Controls.

Click Repeat.

Click All.

iTunes restarts the CD after the last track finishes playing.

A To repeat just the current song, click One instead.

Play Songs Randomly

Click Controls.

Click Shuffle.

Click Turn On Shuffle.

B You can also click the Shuffle button ().

iTunes shuffles the order of play.

Eject the CD

Click the Eject button () beside the CD.

Note: You can also eject the CD by pressing and holding the key on the keyboard.

iTunes ejects the CD from your Mac’s optical drive.

TIP

Why do I not see the song titles after I insert my music CD?

When you play a music CD, iTunes tries to gather information about the album from the Internet. If you still see only track numbers, it may be that you do not have an Internet connection established or that you inserted a noncommercial mixed CD. Connect to the Internet, click Options, and then click Get Track Names.

Import Tracks from a Music CD

If your Mac as an optical drive, you can add tracks from a music CD to the iTunes library. This enables you to listen to an album without having to put the CD into your Mac’s optical drive each time. The process of adding tracks from a CD is called importing, or ripping. After you import the tracks from a music CD, you can play those tracks from the Music category of the iTunes library. You can also use the tracks to create your own playlists and to create your own custom CDs.

Import Tracks from a Music CD

Insert a music CD into your Mac’s optical drive.

A If you have an Internet connection, after a few moments iTunes shows the contents of the CD.

iTunes asks if you want to import the CD.

Click No.

B If you want to import the entire CD, click Yes and skip the rest of the steps in this section.

Click the check box next to each CD track that you do not want to copy ( changes to ).

Click Import CD.

The Import Settings dialog appears.

Click OK.

If you see a dialog asking if iTunes can send CD info to Gracenote, click Send.

iTunes begins importing the selected track or tracks.

C This area displays the copy progress for each track.

D When iTunes is importing a track, it displays beside the track number.

E When iTunes finishes importing a track, it displays beside the track number.

F When iTunes completes the import, you see beside the track numbers of all the tracks you selected.

Click the Eject button () beside the CD, or press .

TIPs

I ripped a track by accident. How do I remove it from the library?

Click the Library button, click Music, open the album you imported, right-click the track that you want to remove, and then click Delete from the shortcut menu. When iTunes asks you to confirm the deletion, click Delete Song. When iTunes asks if you want to keep the file, click Move to Trash.

Can I specify a different quality when importing?

Yes, you can by changing the bit rate, which is a measure of how much of the CD’s original data is copied to your computer. In the Import Settings dialog, click the Setting , click Custom, and then use the Stereo Bit Rate pop-up to click the value you want.

Create a Playlist

A playlist is a collection of songs that are related in some way. Using your iTunes library, you can create customized playlists that include only the songs that you want to hear. For example, you might want to create a playlist of upbeat or festive songs to play during a party or celebration. Similarly, you might want to create a playlist of your current favorite songs to burn to a CD. Whatever the reason, once you create the playlist you can populate it with songs using a simple drag-and-drop technique.

Create a Playlist

Create the Playlist

Click File.

Click New.

Click Playlist.

Note: You can create a new playlist by pressing +.

A iTunes creates a new playlist.

Type a name for the new playlist.

Press .

Add Songs to the Playlist

In the Library pop-up, click Music.

Open an album that has one or more songs you want to add to the playlist.

Click a song that you want to add to the playlist.

Note: If you want more than one song from the album’s playlist, hold down and click each of the songs you want to add.

Drag the selected track and drop it on your playlist.

Repeat steps 2 to 4 to add more songs to the playlist.

Click Done.

B To access your playlists, click Playlists.

TIPs

Is there a faster way to create and populate a playlist?

Yes. Press and hold the key and then click each song you want to include in your playlist. Click File, click New, and then click Playlist from Selection (you can also press ++). Type the playlist name and then press .

Can iTunes add songs to a playlist automatically?

Yes, you can create a Smart Playlist where the songs have one or more properties in common, such as the genre or text in the song title. Click File, click New, and then click Smart Playlist (you can also press ++). Use the Smart Playlist dialog to create rules that define which songs appear in the playlist.

Burn Music Files to a CD

If your Mac has a recordable optical drive, you can copy, or burn, music files onto a CD. Burning CDs is a great way to create customized CDs that you can listen to on the computer or on any device that plays CDs. You can burn music files from within the iTunes window. The easiest way to do this is to create a playlist of the songs you want to burn to the CD. You then organize the playlist by sorting the tracks in the order you want to hear them.

Burn Music Files to a CD

Insert a blank CD into your Mac’s recordable disc drive.

If you already have iTunes running and your Mac asks you to choose an action, click Ignore.

A If you do not yet have iTunes running, use the Action menu to click , click Open iTunes, and then click OK.

iTunes displays the instructions for burning a playlist to a CD.

Click OK.

The iTunes window appears.

Click Playlists.

Click the playlist that you want to burn.

To modify the play order, click here.

Click and drag songs in the order in which you want them to appear on the CD.

Click File.

Click Burn Playlist to Disc.

The Burn Settings dialog appears.

Click Burn.

iTunes burns the songs to the CD.

TIPs

Can I control the interval between songs on the CD?

Yes. By default, iTunes adds 2 seconds between each track on the CD. You can change that in the Burn Settings dialog. In the Gap Between Songs pop-up menu, click , and then click the interval you want to use: None, or any time between 1 second and 5 seconds.

What happens if I have more music than can fit on a single disc?

You can still add all the music you want to burn to the playlist. iTunes fills the first disc and then adds the remaining songs to a second disc. After iTunes finishes burning the first disc, it prompts you to insert the next one.

Edit Song Information

For each song in your library or on a music CD, iTunes maintains a collection of information that includes the song title, artist, album title, genre, and more. If a song’s information contains errors or omissions, you can edit the data. For example, it is common for an album to be categorized under the wrong music genre, so you can edit the album to give it the correct genre. You can edit one song at a time, or you can edit multiple songs, such as an entire album or music CD.

Edit Song Information

Edit a Single Song

Click the song you want to edit.

Click File.

Click Get Info.

Note: You can also press +. Alternatively, right-click the song and then click Get Info.

Click Info.

Edit or add information to the fields.

A If you want to edit another song, click Previous or Next to display the song you want.

Click OK.

Edit Multiple Songs

Select all the songs that you want to edit.

Note: To select individual songs, press and hold and click each song; to select all songs (on a music CD, for example), press +.

Click File.

Click Get Info.

Note: You can also press +. Alternatively, right-click any selected song and then click Get Info.

iTunes asks you to confirm that you want to edit multiple songs.

Click Yes.

The Multiple Item Information dialog appears.

Edit or add information to the fields.

B iTunes displays beside each modified field.

Click OK.

iTunes applies the edits to each selected song.

TIP

When I edit multiple songs, why do I not see all the fields in the Multiple Item Information dialog?

When you are editing multiple songs, you can only modify fields containing data that is common to all the songs, apart from the song title Name field. This makes sense because any changes you make apply to all the selected songs. For example, each song usually has a different title, so you would not want to give every song the same title. You see fields that are common to all the selected songs. For example, on a music CD, data such as the artist, album title, and genre are usually the same for all the songs.

Purchase Music from the iTunes Store

You can add music to your iTunes library by purchasing songs or albums from the iTunes Store. iTunes downloads the song or album to your computer and then adds it to both the Music category and the Purchased playlist. You can then play and manage the song or album just like any other content in the iTunes library. To purchase music from the iTunes Store, you must have an Apple ID, which you can obtain from https://appleid.apple.com. You can also use an AOL account, if you have one.

Purchase Music from the iTunes Store

Click iTunes Store.

The iTunes Store appears.

Click Music.

Locate the music you want to purchase.

A You can use the Search box to search for an artist, album, or song.

Click Buy.

B If you want to purchase just a song, click the song’s price button instead.

iTunes asks you to sign in to your iTunes Store account.

If you have not signed in to your account, you must type your Apple ID.

Type your password.

Click Buy.

iTunes charges your credit card and begins downloading the music to your Mac.

C The status area displays the progress of the download.

D To return to the iTunes library, click Library.

TIPs

Can I use my purchased music on other computers and devices?

Yes. Although many iTunes Store media, particularly movies and TV shows, have digital rights management (DRM) restrictions applied to prevent illegal copying, the songs and albums in the iTunes Store are DRM-free, and so do not have these restrictions. You can play them on multiple devices (such as iPods, iPads, and iPhones), and burn them to multiple CDs.

How do I avoid having many small charges on my credit card bill when purchasing multiple songs?

To avoid many small iTunes charges, purchase an iTunes gift card from an Apple Store or retailer that sells gift cards. On the back of the card, scratch off the sticker that covers the redeem code. Access the iTunes Store, click Redeem at the bottom of the store, type the redemption code, and click Redeem.

Listen to an Internet Radio Station

The Internet offers a number of radio stations to which you can listen. iTunes maintains a list of many of these online radio stations, so it is often easier to use iTunes to listen to Internet radio. Just like a regular radio station, an Internet radio station broadcasts a constant audio stream, except you access the audio over the Internet instead of over the air. iTunes offers several radio stations in each of its more than two dozen genres, which include Blues, Classic Rock, Classical, Folk, Hip Hop, Jazz, and Pop.

Listen to an Internet Radio Station

Click Radio.

Note: If you do not see the Radio category, see the first Tip.

iTunes displays a list of radio genres.

Click to open the genre with which you want to work ( changes to ).

iTunes displays a list of radio station streams in the genre.

Click the radio station stream to which you want to listen.

Click Play ().

iTunes plays the radio station stream.

A The status area displays the name of the station and the name of the currently playing track.

TIPs

The Radio section of the iTunes library does not appear. Can I still listen to Internet radio?

Yes. By default, iTunes does not show all of the available library categories and sources. To display the Radio source, click iTunes and then click Preferences to open the iTunes preferences. Click the General tab, click Radio ( changes to ), and then click OK.

Is it possible to use iTunes to save or record a song from a radio station stream?

No. An Internet radio stream is “listen-only.” iTunes does not give you any way to save the stream to your Mac hard drive or to record the stream as it plays.