Comments on: A Smarter Shuffle for iTunes

By: Jessi

Jessi — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 02:42:57 +0000

Your shuffling predilections would need to stay somewhat consistent over time for this to work properly, I suppose.

I find that my tolerance for shuffling variations has really relaxed over time. I used never to want to shuffle any classical or baroque music with any other kind. Now I really dig some old flamenco from, say, La Niña de Los Peines, mixed with some seventeenth-century lute tunes and some Thelonious Monk. And I didn’t always like this combination.

Sometimes I like listening to whole albums at a time, but a lot of the time I like to be surprised and see if my ears can learn to like the unexpected transitions.

I would make a good poster girl for the Shuffle, eh?

By: ryan

ryan — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 00:33:18 +0000

You might wanna try Soundflavor DJ (www.soundflavor.com/download.php). It’s an iTunes companion that basically does what you are asking, and much more. Think “Genius Shuffle”. It’s also free.

By: Brad Bergeron

Brad Bergeron — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 23:26:24 +0000

Hey Rex, here’s something I’ve been using for a while now. It’s called AutoRate, and it analyzes your iTunes library and sets ratings for songs according to a mathematical algorithm that includes skip count. While it doesn’t take over and change the way songs are shuffled, I found that it’s rather accurate. Combine this and the Party Shuffle feature of iTunes (with higher-rated songs playing more often), and you have a shuffled playlist customized to your musical tastes.

http://www.tuaw.com/2007/05/22/autorate-itunes-rating-done-right/