Posted February 02, 2012
Very off topic (I think), but this is something I have had mulling over in my mind for a long time, and want to put out there.
I like music. A lot. I like somewhat organized music even more.
One thing that I really like is the iTunes music player. Not because it's particularly great as a player, but because it has several key features I love, notably smart playlists, dynamic partial querying, and completely customizable column headings.
I am a big fan of databases, and it my last job actually made several implemented recommendations for improvements to one of our HR databases to mimic iTunes!
Here is what is missing from iTunes, either due to stagnation, a lack of true innovation, or a fault in the apple culture:
1) A music player should have the ability to track WHEN a play was made, not just the most recent. I love the idea of a "What am I into lately" smart playlist, and what iTunes needs is a "Most plays in the last (X) days/weeks/months" smart playlist function. This does not exist at the moment due to the fact that they just store the last plays time stamp. I am sure implementing this could slow the program down, so I would be fine with the user selecting the resolution, if you will, defaulting all such functions to months, years, etc. This is an invaluable tool, as often a person will get into "moods" for a few months, and tracking what songs you listened to a LOT during a particular TIME has a TON of value.
2) A lot of the mood of a song has to do with the overall tempo. The BPM of a song can really affect your reaction, to the point that a slowed or sped up version of a song can throw you off a lot. Itunes can handle the BPM in ALL it's searches and smart playlists...but it cannot generate a tracks BPM, nor does it provide this info with iTunes purchased tracks. This is appalling. The Genius service could potentially steal Pandora's business out from under their feet, but they only have genre, year, and artist to work with at the moment, skewing heavily towards genre in my tests. Adding the ability to generate the BPM or at least to provide it for purchased tracks is absolutely essential.
3) Subgenres. This is so obvious to the point of being ridiculous that this has not been implemented. I categorize music into a small group of macro genres: Rock, Metal, Rap, Soundtrack, Pop, Country, Punk. However, within metal there is thrash metal, black metal, etc. Within rock there is hard rock, blues rock, etc. This is absolutely essential for proper sorting and genius implementation.
4) Multi-order smart playlists. Itunes has an option to set up a list based around two separate rules, for example: "Match any of XYX and all of ABC". But these lists don't work. I have set up lists as simple as "Match and of genres Rock, Metal, or Punk as well as songs played in the last 3 days", and it will spit out an empty list. This is a ridiculous tease, as the menus options are in there, they just don't work. The possibilities here are endless. Imagine a playlist that gave you all songs by a set of your ten most played artists, all rated 5 stars, and with either no skips or more than 5 plays in the last week. The ability to create multiple subsets for a playlist to draw on is possible using multiple lists as building blocks, merging them with clever scripting, but it's clunky at best.
5) Abily to set playcount and skipcount as desired. Many times I have replaced a low quality version of a song with a higher version, and to maintain the playcount, I have to manually drag the cursor to the end of the song X times, or just start over. A music collection is not Xbox Gamerscore, there doesn't have to be safeguards to prevent false reporting of "achievement". If I want to set a song's plays to 100,006, I should have that ability. I should also have the ability to select what tracking options are enabled for each track. For example, if I have a large master list for driving or some such purpose, I might skip a song just because it's not the right mood. This is not the same as skipping a song because you dislike it. The user should be able to completely control and define these counts. Additionally, the skip feature should be able to be repurposed, for example, having the skip button automatically add a song to a certain playlist, or adding a preset comment, etc.
6) Lastly, the way the iTunes library file, which is a tiny file containing all metadata, operates is clunky and archaic. This file should have complete cloud integration to enable "syncing" on any computer. Dropbox is a great model here. I should be able to plug my iPod into any web enabled PC, and sync my listening stats/playlists via an online itunes. In addition, for a fee is necessary, I should be able to sync my library using any web enabled PC.
The requirement for the library file to lock you into a single PC made sense in the dark ages of MP3 piracy, but in this era, if a user is buying an iTune, which is essentially buying what is readily available for free, they should be given full freedom over that file's use. The requirement to have all songs in the library file on the computer you want to sync with is ridiculous.
If anyone has read this far, and has anything to add, please do so. This is something I have felt strongly about for many years, and have never shared publicly. I am sure there are a few music freaks on here! Good old music, good old games!
I like music. A lot. I like somewhat organized music even more.
One thing that I really like is the iTunes music player. Not because it's particularly great as a player, but because it has several key features I love, notably smart playlists, dynamic partial querying, and completely customizable column headings.
I am a big fan of databases, and it my last job actually made several implemented recommendations for improvements to one of our HR databases to mimic iTunes!
Here is what is missing from iTunes, either due to stagnation, a lack of true innovation, or a fault in the apple culture:
1) A music player should have the ability to track WHEN a play was made, not just the most recent. I love the idea of a "What am I into lately" smart playlist, and what iTunes needs is a "Most plays in the last (X) days/weeks/months" smart playlist function. This does not exist at the moment due to the fact that they just store the last plays time stamp. I am sure implementing this could slow the program down, so I would be fine with the user selecting the resolution, if you will, defaulting all such functions to months, years, etc. This is an invaluable tool, as often a person will get into "moods" for a few months, and tracking what songs you listened to a LOT during a particular TIME has a TON of value.
2) A lot of the mood of a song has to do with the overall tempo. The BPM of a song can really affect your reaction, to the point that a slowed or sped up version of a song can throw you off a lot. Itunes can handle the BPM in ALL it's searches and smart playlists...but it cannot generate a tracks BPM, nor does it provide this info with iTunes purchased tracks. This is appalling. The Genius service could potentially steal Pandora's business out from under their feet, but they only have genre, year, and artist to work with at the moment, skewing heavily towards genre in my tests. Adding the ability to generate the BPM or at least to provide it for purchased tracks is absolutely essential.
3) Subgenres. This is so obvious to the point of being ridiculous that this has not been implemented. I categorize music into a small group of macro genres: Rock, Metal, Rap, Soundtrack, Pop, Country, Punk. However, within metal there is thrash metal, black metal, etc. Within rock there is hard rock, blues rock, etc. This is absolutely essential for proper sorting and genius implementation.
4) Multi-order smart playlists. Itunes has an option to set up a list based around two separate rules, for example: "Match any of XYX and all of ABC". But these lists don't work. I have set up lists as simple as "Match and of genres Rock, Metal, or Punk as well as songs played in the last 3 days", and it will spit out an empty list. This is a ridiculous tease, as the menus options are in there, they just don't work. The possibilities here are endless. Imagine a playlist that gave you all songs by a set of your ten most played artists, all rated 5 stars, and with either no skips or more than 5 plays in the last week. The ability to create multiple subsets for a playlist to draw on is possible using multiple lists as building blocks, merging them with clever scripting, but it's clunky at best.
5) Abily to set playcount and skipcount as desired. Many times I have replaced a low quality version of a song with a higher version, and to maintain the playcount, I have to manually drag the cursor to the end of the song X times, or just start over. A music collection is not Xbox Gamerscore, there doesn't have to be safeguards to prevent false reporting of "achievement". If I want to set a song's plays to 100,006, I should have that ability. I should also have the ability to select what tracking options are enabled for each track. For example, if I have a large master list for driving or some such purpose, I might skip a song just because it's not the right mood. This is not the same as skipping a song because you dislike it. The user should be able to completely control and define these counts. Additionally, the skip feature should be able to be repurposed, for example, having the skip button automatically add a song to a certain playlist, or adding a preset comment, etc.
6) Lastly, the way the iTunes library file, which is a tiny file containing all metadata, operates is clunky and archaic. This file should have complete cloud integration to enable "syncing" on any computer. Dropbox is a great model here. I should be able to plug my iPod into any web enabled PC, and sync my listening stats/playlists via an online itunes. In addition, for a fee is necessary, I should be able to sync my library using any web enabled PC.
The requirement for the library file to lock you into a single PC made sense in the dark ages of MP3 piracy, but in this era, if a user is buying an iTune, which is essentially buying what is readily available for free, they should be given full freedom over that file's use. The requirement to have all songs in the library file on the computer you want to sync with is ridiculous.
If anyone has read this far, and has anything to add, please do so. This is something I have felt strongly about for many years, and have never shared publicly. I am sure there are a few music freaks on here! Good old music, good old games!
