Help an iTunes newbie

January 6, 2007 12:25 PM

iTunes newbieFilter: Can I search iTunes in some kind of "more like this" format to find songs with a similar bpm/tempo to a specific song?

I got an iPod for Christmas and have begun to download songs. I've found so far that I pretty much hate the iTunes interface.

I have gotten frustrated every time it won't lead me where I think I should go, or give me the help I'd like to have. Perhaps I'm ignorant or haven't read the manual. But I can't find a manual.

Anyway-

I want to find music for running. I have some songs I love to run to, as they are just the right tempo and help me keep going. How can I get iTunes to help me find more songs that fit this category?

For example- one such song is Tom Petty's "Running Down a Dream." Another is "You Can't Stop the Beat" from the musical "Hairspray." Not much in common there. Traditional means of linking (artist, genre, subject matter) don't provide anything of value.

How can I get "more like this" out of iTunes? (Or, if it's not capable of doing that, where else could I look?)

posted by I_Love_Bananas to media & arts (8 comments total)

For now, try Tangerine or Predixis -- the results on either range from awful to sometimes OK, but you need to understand this is not an easy problem and I'm not sure why you needed to blame iTunes for not providing it-- is there another application you're familiar with that does provide this functionality?
posted by neustile at 12:31 PM on January 6, 2007

iLike is an extension for itunes and has been _somewhat_ useful for me. I don't think it does the math you're looking for, though. I prefer Pandora, which isn't iTunes related but actually does do that behind-the-scenes math work. You need to be attentive to it, though.
posted by monkeymadness at 12:38 PM on January 6, 2007

I'm not "blaming" itUnes... it's so thorough in so many other ways, I thought the specific type of help I want doesn't seem like it should be so far out of the realm of possibility.

There are lots of reasons why someone would like a certain song, and one of them is the beat, whether it's for dancing or whatever. I know DJs have to know beats per minute for planning setlists. I'm sort of trying to do the same thing, is all.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 12:42 PM on January 6, 2007

And no, there is not another provider of this functionality, that I know of (forgot to add that to the last comment).

It's not like I switched to iTunes from another service that gave me what I want and now I wish Apple had it too.
posted by I_Love_Bananas at 12:45 PM on January 6, 2007

OK, apologies for mixing up your rant with the question. I fully understand the need for this sort of app. As of today there are no perfect solutions, though I know of a few in the works.

Tangerine is OK at matching beat heavy tracks. Predixis/Audiobaba do something different but might give you the same sort of results.
posted by neustile at 12:46 PM on January 6, 2007

monkeymadness is right. Your question is pretty much the reason why Pandora exists.
posted by roll truck roll at 1:35 PM on January 6, 2007

the filter might be what you are looking for.
posted by arcticseal at 2:06 PM on January 6, 2007

or soundflavor dj
posted by freddymetz at 10:23 AM on January 7, 2007