Posted by Gary on 04/29/06 18:47

On 29 Apr 2006 19:57:14 +0200, Doug Anderson
<ethelthelogremovethis@gmail.com> wrote:

>Gary <gary_w1@hotmail.com> writes:
>
>> I've had mp3 players for a long time. Every one I've owned allowed
>> you to take the files of mp3s, heirarchically arranged, into the
>> player. So I developed this structure which has worked for me for a
>> long time:
>>
>> mp3s
>> ---Books
>> ------Author1 - Book Title 1
>> ------Author2 - Book Title 2
>> ---Classical
>> ------Composer1 - Album Name 1
>> ------Composer2 - Album Name 2
>> ---Comedy
>> ------Performer1 - Album Name 1
>> ------Performer2 - Album Name 2
>> ---Folk
>> ------Performer1 - Album Name 1
>> ------Performer2 - Album Name 2
>> ---Popular
>> ------Performer1 - Album Name 1
>> ------Performer2 - Album Name 2
>>
>> and so forth.
>>
>> Withing each folder was a series of mp3s, usually starting with a two
>> digit track number, giving the name of the particular track. I never
>> concerned myself with tags...some files had them, others didn't.
>>
>> Now the iPod (just a few days old) presents me with a totally new
>> organization. All the files will go into the same folder and will be
>> grouped together by their tags. So I have to tag a huge number of
>> files with Genre (Book, Classical, Comedy, Folk or Popular),
>> Performer, Album Name and Track. There are programs to help do this,
>> but the job is still massive. First I have to add the tags...then
>> organize files into playlists.
>
>There are irritating things about such a transition. But let me point
>out that it might be easier than you may think.
>
>For example, make a folder in iTunes labeled (say) Book. Drag your
>books into that folder. When they are done importing, select all the
>tracks in that folder, and then type Command-i and select info.
>
>Then either take "Books and Spoken" from the pull-down menu under
>genre, or enter what you prefer for the genre.
>
>This will change all tracks simultaneously.
>
>It was a huge savings for me when I realized I could make changes like
>this to large groups of tracks.
>
>> Just an afterthought. The Windows-type organization seems more suited
>> to people who think of their collection as a bunch of albums. The
>> iPod-type organization seems more suited to those who think of their
>> collection as a bunch of individual tracks.
>
>It may seem that way, but I don't think this is really true. You
>developed your own very sensible organizational system. iTunes wants
>you to use their (also sensible) organizational system.
>
>Unfortunately for you, your system was based on organizing your files
>by what directories they were in (and maybe by their name) and iTunes
>system is based on organizing files by the information attached to
>them (which ideally includes things like Artist, Album, Composer,
>Genre, etcetera.
>
>The strength of iTunes is then it is easy to decide you'd prefer (that
>day) to think of your music as organized by artist, rather than
>album. The weakness is that you need to make sure this data is
>attached to the tracks.
>
>Often when I import a CD into iTunes, I end up correcting the artist
>and the composer (and occasionally even the album). iTunes usually
>gets this data from the CDDB, and often it has been entered there in a
>way I don't like. For example, I want to find Beethoven under "B"
>for Beethoven, not under "L" for Ludwig. And I want it always to be
>the same, so that I don't have to wonder whether to look for Elvis
>Costello under "E" or under "C."
>
>Luckily, by the strategem mentioned above, it is easy to make these
>changes after importing the album.
>
>Inviato da X-Privat.Org - Registrazione gratuita http://www.x-privat.org/join.php

Doug:

I tried to follow your instructions, but I'm getting a "do not enter"
symbol when I use internet explorer and try to drag folders of books
over to the iTunes "Books" folder I created.

Did I misunderstand your instructions?

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