4.13.2012

Why iTunes is "Genius"

My absolute favorite feature of iTunes is the Genius, its a feature that's been around for awhile but I'm not sure that everyone is aware of it.  Sure there are a few playlist already created by the Genius and those are cool and well constructed.  But my favorite thing is when I right click on a song that goes with my current mood and click "Start Genius" and it gives me a playlist of 25 songs (you can choose more or less, 25 is the default) all song matching with this same mood and all the songs are very well associated with each other.  I've noticed similar song topics, music eras, music sub genres (underground, gangsta rap, party songs, etc), similar production, same producers, associated artist, etc.  Google Music has something similar called Instant Mixes that you can do on the fly, its ok and nice to have from mobile but its just not as precise as iTunes Genius, yet.  I say yet, because Google is Search King, so I'm sure they can come up with an algorithm to compete if they make it their focus.

Below is a Genius Mix that I made starting with Fat Joe "That White" that real Hip-Hop fans can enjoy.  I didn't make this mix because I wanted to listen to Fat Joe or listen to a song about Cocaine, I wanted to hear a well crafted beat by DJ Premier.  No where in my tags for this song do I have DJ Premier listed, but look at the rest of the songs that the Genius gave me.  Perfect blend and a lot of DJ Premier, check his discography. Actually from what I can see 15 out of the 25 songs are produced by DJ Premier, the other 10 got a similar feel to them or are directly associated with Fat Joe.

Click to Enlarge

Close Up On The Playlist

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