Tagging in i-tunes on a rainy night

I bet you all know an iTunes hater.

You know these guys, the ones who poo-poo anything even remotely popular. These are the same people that use Linux instead of Windows and bring their own Sake to catered parties.

They probably use something like Media Monkey and are the very same ones that turn renegade on you in online games. They have the morals of an alley rat (cat is too good for them) and frankly they smell a bit too.

SoiTunes gets its criticism yes. Sometimes it is justified (this Genius obviously has never heard of classical or roots music before) but most of the issues you may come across usually have a solution if you just look hard enough. Lifehacker is one such site I would recommend for those wanting to learn more about making the most out of the application.

It was in that very site that I came across some great information regarding tagging. Now I just love this idea so much I had to share. I love that I can drill down to a song and associate all kinds of descriptive tidbits about it. Perhaps this appeals to a certain type of individual; one who likes labels. Or maybe those who like to consider the future.

I recently heard that this is a good signpost for marking intelligence. Those who consider possible future uses is the benchmark for our species evolution. Way back around 40,000 years ago when the Neandertals were still kicking around alongside our ancestors; it is believed that your dear old great great great …. well you get the idea…… grandparents began storing water by burying it in the shade of a tree in large ostrich eggs. This was to ensure there was water available when they came back that way. This is what distinguished us from our slack jawed cousins the Neandertals. We developed the skill of imagination and it is why we are here now with such bloody big brains. We won, go us.

This leads us thousands of years back to the future and we can see millions of examples of future planning; most of the time it’s the most boring topic imaginable. But tagging is definitely not my friends. Tagging is the emancipator from your staid and limited musical tastes. And here is where I round up this blog beautifully by finally making my point.

iTunes does not have a specific tagging option however you simply have to use the Comments field to add them. For example with a song like 'I love a rainy night' by Eddie Rabbit I would possibly use the following tags - Weather, rain, night, love, bad 80's music, OR with my collection of Mojo and Uncut magazine CD's is add the tags - magazine, uncut (or) mojo, etc

What this means is that once you start amassing enough tagged music you can begin to use the playlist option in i-tunes with some aplomb and panache. Forget the boring old 'Year of release' or 'Genre' or 'Least played' or 'Most recently added' playlists. By using tags you can create the most fascinating mixes by connecting music with a subject or theme such as 'Magazine' or 'Weather'. When I did this the resulting mix of music was a revelation. Rock,jazz, alternative, roots, reggae, world from any time all played beautifully together. It is almost like giving people a free pass to enjoy music they would normally not listen to. All you need to do is select Random and as long as you have enough music you can keep updating the random option and here new music for the same tag. I tell you it’s the bees knees.

My personal favourites so far have been 'The word blue', 'Seasons' and 'Bob Dylan' added with 'Bob Dylan covers'. Have a try yourself and come back to tell us your favourite tagged playlists.

And finally, as we roll into another Australian summer scorcher (hey that’s a great idea for a playlist, Australian songs with the word summer), don’t think that we at SOI are not doing our part. Water restrictions are on their way so to combat this disaster we offer to the gods a rain song to appease their cruel and jealous ways.