![]() The Solution: Part suite of apps, part “service,” TuneUp performs a lot of the same functions as those listed above. The Problem: You’re too lazy to pick from the apps above and want an all-in-one option. Plus, you get to tell people you own an app that ends with “licious.” Perfect For: Same as above, but for those who need a no-muss-no-fuss solution. That’s right, it scans your library and assigns tags to all your music automatically. The Solution: Do the same stuff as Quick Tag but entirely hands-free. Perfect For: Chronic catalogers, or anyone without a photographic memory. It’s quick-and-dirty, so don’t expect any bells or whistles. The Solution: Tag your music! We tag pretty much everything else these days - Tweets, photos, every single flipping thing on Facebook - so why not music? Adding keywords to your song’s meta data is an easy way of jogging your memory, not to mention sorting and grouping similar tracks. The Problem: If you have a lot of music, it’s not always easy to remember much about that single you downloaded five years ago - or why you downloaded it. Perfect For: It’s like tagging, only without words, so it’s perfect for those who value visuals above all else. Then use those colors to compile playlists for whatever mood you’re in - or want to be in. Intense music you’d probably mark as bright red, for example. The Solution: Color-code your songs! This little app runs side-by-side with iTunes, and lets you pick a color for each song that matches the mood it evokes in you. The Problem: Sometimes “Smart Playlists” are dumber than a sack of hammers. The Solution: This auto-gain app scans your music files and ensures that every song on your computer plays just as loud (or soft) as everything else. ![]() The Problem: Dumb ol’ iTunes can’t tell when songs play at volume levels that are all over the map. (You probably found this website by accident… Just breathe! You’ll get through this. Just like if you were using an iPhone or iPod, iTuneMyWalkman can recognize your device when it’s connected to your computer, and will automatically synchronize your media files. The Solution: This open source app helps synchronize your iTunes library/playlists to the non-Apple portable device of your choice. The Problem: You use iTunes to organize your music collection, but your MP3 player or cell phone doesn’t have an Apple logo on the back. It even provides direct links for purchasing your concert tickets online. The Solution: A plugin that regularly scans your iTunes library and creates a personalized calendar of upcoming concerts that are scheduled for your corner of the U.S., Canada, or the U.K. The Problem: You love collecting music by your favorite artists, but want to see them perform live-and-in-concert. Perfect For: Rebels who don’t live by anybody’s rules but their own. The Solution: Stick it to The Man and claim that music as your own, with this robust converter that will transform those purchased-on-iTunes tracks to DRM-free files. The Problem: You’re sick of having to play by Apple’s rules when it comes to where and how you can listen to your digital music. Perfect For: Collectors with an extremely extensive library of music. The Solution: A one-stop shop for eliminating all of those duplicate files - without having to hunt them down one-by-one. The Problem: Thanks to “best of” albums and radio hit Singles purchases, you’ve got lots of duplicate songs in your iTunes library. Perfect For: Highly visual connoisseurs, Cover Flow completionists. In addition to the right cover artwork, it’ll also find lyrics for most of your songs, and correct inconsistencies in your library. The Solution: This gem of an app does exactly what you want it to do - and most of it is done automatically - and then some. ![]() The Problem: iTunes never can seem to find the correct cover art for anything that’s not a modern bestseller. ![]() But in the meantime, here are ten apps, addons, and plugins that do a terrific job of filling in some of iTunes’ gaping holes. Okay, so it may not be possible to make iTunes not suck - at least not without a major program re-write from the ground up, by Apple itself. The years have not been kind to this bloated program, but here are some addons to make iTunes stop sucking. Today, it’s a full-on media player, all-in-one store for everything on your iOS devices, and even a file manager. It’s hard to believe that iTunes started out as a meager music store. ![]()
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