Apple iTunes 8’s Genius Playlist Feature

Along with the recent announcement of new iPods, Apple also introduced a new version of iTunes, version 8. A very cool new feature was introduced: Genius playlists.

I often think about creating playlists filled with music that fits a specific mood, or that is otherwise similar. Currently, the way I have music randomizing, I will get to hear Led Zeppelin followed by the Brian Setzer Orchestra. Both enjoyable, but certainly dissimilar! Creating some playlists could certainly help me listen to just the kind of music I’m interested in hearing at the moment. But that takes time, and who has that!?

Enter iTunes’ Genius feature: select a song and a playlist of similar songs will be created for you! I have been enjoying playing with this feature this week because it really does a great job of finding music that feels the same. Sure, there is some stuff I want to exclude, but overall, it does a really good job. I’ve already saved several Genius Playlists for future listening.

Tip: getting good results from Genius relies heavily on your music having all of the metadata fields filled in: song title, album, and artist are obvious, but even year, track number, and ratings make a difference.

And, hey, look at that: the new iPods have Genius built in, too. Hm. Enticing!