Have I mentioned that I would really like an
iPod?
While i don't have an iPod I do use iTunes a fair amount. It's pretty much replaced all previous apps (Windows Media Player, WinAmp, MusicMatch) for me. The reason iTunes has become my favorite player is that it is reasonably stable, has neat features for creating playlists and the store is dead simple to use. I used to like Music Match in that it had some extra features for updating MP3's, but it seems to run too slowly for me. (I think somewhere along the way they must have jumped the shark on that software.) Music Match to it's credit had a easy to use store, and if fact seems to produce suggestions based on your non-drm'ed MP3's. That's handy, a little creepy, but handy.
There are a few more things I would like in iTunes.
Minimize to a tiny player in the task bar on Windows XP, like Windows Media Player does.
Give me some more options for the physical (re)arrangement of my existing music.
Web API for the iTunes store.
The iTunes store is almost too easy to use. I've purchased a lot more music in the last six months than I had in the last couple of years. Immediate gratification can be a bad thing.
The weekly free downloads combines with iMixes, and cross artist suggestions (people who bought X also bought Y) make it fun to surf around looking for new music.
My latest find is "
Bowling for Soup". They seem to have this over the top 80's sound combined with a wicked self mocking sense of humour. Think the wit and humor of BareNaked ladies meets a 80's guitar band, with a kind of late 90's irony. Warning, if you're easily offended by the occasional four letter word, there are plenty of songs you won't enjoy too much. I don't know what the radio edits sound like so your mileage may vary.
The songs that really grab me at the moment are "1985", "Ohio (Come Back to Texas)", and "My Hometown".
I always have this niggling feeling when I hear new music I like; "Was this band massaged, photoshopped, and focus-grouped until it would sell to people in my demographic?" My sense is no, but the way big music works it's hard to figure out without having hearing the band in person. It looks like the closest they come is Milwaukee, and I missed that show by a few days.
I have no idea what plays on radio anymore. the only music I listen is cd's and mp3's, as the radio stations are much too annoying for my tastes.
One other thing, why do recording artists have such difficult to use, flash enabled, noisy, and annoying web sites? What's wrong with a simple blog with some mp3's and a list of scheduled concerts guys?
