How to Use Apple iTunes to Get your Music Addiction Sorted [Tutorial]

If you’re like me you can’t get any work done without music in the background. Moreover, you can’t stand the commercials or the news breaks on the radio, so you don’t listen to the radio whatsoever. Playing CDs is OK but then you need to swap discs every 50 minutes or so, which is a pain. Pandora and Last FM are cool but their music is not always up your alley, right? (they choose the music for you, at the end of the day, right?)  So what do you do?

Well, here’s what I do. Here is my simple method of getting my music needs easily solved, in a few quick steps. Hold tight…

Image credit: Gabriella Fabbri

Step #1: Download iTunes (if you haven’t already)

Download iTunes from Apple’s website. There are free versions for all the major platforms.

Step #2: Go to the Podcasts Directory

After installing iTunes (hey come on, you don’t need me for that, do you? There’s a tut’ for that. Somewhere… OK just Google it ) open the program and look at the Left-hand Menu. Under Library click on Podcasts…

Once inside the Podcasts Directory look at the Top Menu. Click on Podcasts and choose Music from the Drop-down Menu…

Now you’re in the Music Podcasts page. As you can see, there are quite a few ways to find great music here. I normally go for the What’s Hot category on the left, if I need some guidance.

Here’s a quicker way (I believe) to do it: Just type your favorite music genre in the Top-right Search Bar (1). You’ll then get a multitude of options, but you can easily Filter them by Media Type (Left Menu) and choose Podcasts (2). Now you can click on See All (3) to view the entire list of relevant podcasts!

Step #3: Find a podcast you like

Go through the list of podcasts. There would normally be dozens if not hundreds of podcasts to choose from. I assume they are ordered by popularity but don’t let that guide you. You can find real gems even in the very bottom of the list! Click Subscribe Free to download the latest episode straight away or click on the Podcast Image/Name for more details…

Step #4: Subscribe to the podcast

If you’ve hitten the Podcast Image/Description, this is where you’ll land: The Podcast page. In this case it’s Electronic Explorations (my favorite…) Now, you can Listen to past episodes to see if they’re up your street; scroll down to read some other Costemer Reviews; and finally hit the Subscribe Free button under the Podcast Image, and you’re in the game…

Step #5: Back to iTunes…

Back to iTunes and now all you have to do is Add a New Playlist (1) and Name it (2). I use the Podcast Name for convenience. But it’s totally up to you!

Step #6: Download your new music

Now that you’ve got your Playlist in place, it’s time to start downloading all or most of the past episodes. Mind you, this might take quite a bit of disk space and time, so be prepared…  Go back to Podcasts (1) (Left-hand Menu, under Library.) From the Podcast Menu find the podcast you’ve just subscribed to and press Get All to download all past episodes; alternatively, click on the Left Arrow next to the Podcast Name to open the Drop-down Menu, and hit Get to download individual episodes; now, get yourself a coffee or go to sleep. This should take time…

So you’ve got everything downloaded… Great! Now, simply go back to the Podcast Menu and find your podcast. Right-click the Podcast Name and form the Drop-down Menu choose Add to Playlist and then the Playlist you added on step #5.

Step #7: Hit Play…

And that, my friend, is all there is to it! Go back to your new Playlist and hit Play. As you can see, you can easily get a few days’ worth of music for free like that. Another advantage of music podcasts is that normally there’s little if no commercials, hardly any blurb (and if there is any it would normally compliment the music rather than distract.) Moreover, niche music podcasts are often delivered by people who are passionate about what they broadcast, thus the pieces are cherry-picked and the quality tends to be above standard.

Enjoy!

What about you?

Can you work without music in the background, or is it just me?

Are you using iTunes to get your musical fix?

What other tools are you using to get your music sorted?

Let us know your thoughts and ideas in the comments below.

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