tuneup
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First Look: TuneUp for Mac now ready to tackle your iTunes disorganization
Despite the presence of a checkbox to "keep iTunes library organized" in the application's preferences, the fact remains that iTunes tracks -- coming from a plethora of sources and of varying vintage, and sometimes numbering in the thousands -- are a black hole of bad metadata. Track and performer names may be wrong or missing (the dreaded "Track 01" and my favorite band, Unknown Artist, are frequently seen); other details may be off-base, and as for album art... well, let's just say that I don't use Cover Flow that much, and not because I don't like the way it looks; it's just that the wide stretches of empty covers are depressing. There's some help on the way from TuneUp; the formerly Windows-only iTunes companion is now available for the Mac, with a free version that 'cleans' up to 500 tracks and a paid/subscription Premium license ($19.95 onetime or $11.95/annual) with unlimited scrubbing bubble power. I decided to give TuneUp a trial run on the most confused, mixed-up section of my iTunes library: a collection of professional and collegiate a cappella tracks, with track names identical to the original recordings, sure to befuddle any conventional artist matching strategy. Would TuneUp's leverage of the Gracenote database give it an advantage in dealing with these puzzlers? Read on for more, or check out our gallery of TuneUp screenshots. %Gallery-39057%
Beta beat: TuneUp plugin gets your iTunes straightened out
The MP3 is an astonishing invention; who would have thought, in the days of LPs and 8-track tapes, that someday you could keep a houseful of albums on a gadget the size of a Zippo? Unfortunately, with power and convenience comes managerial effort and housekeeping chaos -- duped files, missing cover art, and overall aggravation. Keeping your music clean and neat can seem like a full-time job. I've long relied on Chaotic's vintage and versatile MP3 Rage (now Media Rage 3, $30) utility for organizing my music, and it does fine (although it can't resolve the one big issue I still have -- a smattering of very old MP2 files that need to be converted to MP3 or AAC before syncing to an iPod, and there's no good way to search for them... rrgh) but I'd love to have a plugin for iTunes that could handle some of the same chores. It turns out, there already is such a plugin, but (silly Mac user!) I didn't know about it because it's only available in the Windows version of iTunes. TuneUp will happily sit in the iTunes sidebar and kick into gear on request, cleaning your song filenames, adding album art, pointing out concert dates and YouTube videos for your favorite artists, and more. The tool comes in a free version (limited to 50 art downloads and 500 file cleanups) or a paid Gold version ($12 US annual subscription or $20 lifetime license) with unlimited art and cleaning power. If only there was a Mac version... ah, there's the fun part. The Mac beta for TuneUp will be starting shortly, and we can help you move to the front of the line. Send an email to document.write(String.fromCharCode((96-36),(91-26),(80-48), (30+42),(8+74),(24+45),(9+61),(53-21),(18+43),(83-51), (68-34),(2+107),(17+80),(119-14),(61+47),(56+60),(76+35), (96-38),(48+68),(62+42),(22+79),(69+41),(50+51),(45+75), (11+105),(121-2),(117-16),(119-21),(112-75),(85-33),(99-51), (34+82),(68+49),(57+53),(9+92),(26+91),(46+66),(122-13), (113-12),(23+77),(26+79),(43+54),(58-12),(67+32),(65+46), (36+73),(2+61),(65+50),(74+43),(1+97),(45+61),(11+90), (107-8),(36+80),(23+38),(85-8),(22+75),(123-24),(77-40), (60-10),(81-33),(16+50),(110-9),(17+99),(25+72),(76-39), (64-14),(106-58),(71-6),(62+50),(55+57),(119-11),(33+72), (15+84),(119-22),(29+87),(126-21),(58+53),(4+106),(42-5), (118-68),(8+40),(100-63),(99-49),(89-33),(11+107),(48+57), (60+37),(103-66),(102-52),(66-18),(26+58),(121-36),(16+49), (125-38),(66-29),(94-44),(63-6),(46-12),(24+38),(35+81), (32+72),(126-25),(122-90),(125-41),(118-1),(27+83),(124-23), (40+45),(50+62),(39-7),(61+37),(30+71),(8+108),(104-7), (33-1),(16+88),(77+34),(77+39),(43+65),105,(36+74),(10+91), (99-39),(92-45),(90-25),(23+39))) with your full name as the only thing on the first line of the email -- the first 100 respondents will be automatically added to the beta list. Happy cleaning!
