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I dunno. Reading this I can't help but feel like maybe the author is doing it wrong? I'm going to be charitable and admit that Apple has made iTunes incredibly

I dunno. Reading this I can't help but feel like maybe the author is doing it wrong? I'm going to be charitable and admit that Apple has made iTunes incredibly difficult to use effectively, especially since the store is awful and they really, really push the iTunes store on you. That the interface is so slow and inconsistent doesn't help either. My advice to anyone who has any desire to use iTunes is: acquire your music from elsewhere as actual mp3 files, tag them using something like Mp3tag[0] and then drag and drop them into iTunes. Make sure you check the "Keep iTunes Media folder organized" and "Copy files to iTunes Media folder when adding to library" options in the advanced settings. The only control you're really giving up then is the exact naming scheme of the files in the folder. But "<library directory>/Artist Name/Album Name/01 Song Title.mp3" is a pretty sane convention in my opinion. I have close to 18,000 albums in my iTunes library that I've added this way over the last decade and a half. It works pretty well and I have no problem reasoning about what music I have. I totally agree with his complaints about Apple Music though, it's pretty inscrutable. But I wrote my own music streaming server with Sinatra and iOS app to go with it so I always have access to whatever is stored on my hard drive at home in a way that makes sense to me. If I'm not at home that's what I'd rather do, no syncing or anything weird. 0: http://www.mp3tag.de/en/ http://www.mp3tag.de/en/

Bartweiss 10y ago
I would definitely argue that "make sure you have these advanced settings configured or you're screwed" is a sign of hostile software. I'm totally unwilling to use iTunes or Apple Music for my collection. That said, if you're particular about your music collection, it's basically always going to take some curation. Giving up because Apple didn't make that easy isn't entirely Apple's fault.
- mikewhy 10y ago
  > make sure you have these advanced settings configured or you're screwed However, those very settings are on by default.
Fuxy 10y ago
My recommendation would be to not use Apple but if you can't do that for whatever reason running your own Plex media server at home and installing the Plex app on your phone should be the next best thing. I got a freenas box running at home where i keep all my conntent with plex media server running in a jail giving me access to my entrire library anywhere I am without having to worry that some miss click is going to destroy all my hard work. Owncloud, Plex etc are a great replacement for the mainstream clud based services out there and you have full controll over them. I would never give up controll over my data for the convenience of the cloud. It feels like gving up one of your findamental rights like the right to free speach to me.
scarface74 10y ago
That's completely backwards. If you want control over your music library you would keep both of those options disabled. Apple has been selling standard AAC non DRMd music since 2007. No AAC is not a proprietary Apple format. It is supported by everything under the sun and is licensed just like the MP3 format. Apple has nothing to do with the licensing.

Bartweiss 10y ago

I would definitely argue that "make sure you have these advanced settings configured or you're screwed" is a sign of hostile software. I'm totally unwilling to use iTunes or Apple Music for my collection. That said, if you're particular about your music collection, it's basically always going to take some curation. Giving up because Apple didn't make that easy isn't entirely Apple's fault.

mikewhy 10y ago
> make sure you have these advanced settings configured or you're screwed However, those very settings are on by default.

Fuxy 10y ago

My recommendation would be to not use Apple but if you can't do that for whatever reason running your own Plex media server at home and installing the Plex app on your phone should be the next best thing. I got a freenas box running at home where i keep all my conntent with plex media server running in a jail giving me access to my entrire library anywhere I am without having to worry that some miss click is going to destroy all my hard work. Owncloud, Plex etc are a great replacement for the mainstream clud based services out there and you have full controll over them. I would never give up controll over my data for the convenience of the cloud. It feels like gving up one of your findamental rights like the right to free speach to me.

scarface74 10y ago

That's completely backwards. If you want control over your music library you would keep both of those options disabled. Apple has been selling standard AAC non DRMd music since 2007. No AAC is not a proprietary Apple format. It is supported by everything under the sun and is licensed just like the MP3 format. Apple has nothing to do with the licensing.