Web Commonerpolitics, social commentary, and ramblings on pop culture

I love you guys. I really do. I’m one of those PC converts who, over the years, went from having two Windows-based desktop computers in the house to a MacBook Pro, Mac Mini in the living room, Time Capsule to back it all up, and three iPods for non-stop entertainment on the go. While Microsoft’s XP efforts were appreciated, I simply got tired of weaving through the cobweb-like process of organizing a library of digital media that seemed to grow exponentially by the minute. OS X not only makes it easy, but stimulates creativity at the same time and actually invokes fun. So, after a lifetime of recording my own beloved music mixes to analog tape or burning 15 or so select songs to a compact disc, I cannot put in words how vamped I was to discover smart playlists in iTunes. This was the turning point when I finally chose a side, and it seemed as if my feelings on the matter were so strong that there would be no turning back. Mac for life, right?

Music is my vice, my addiction, and my lifeblood in most circumstances. I need it to survive, and I need it to follow some sort of creative order, or else it’s just background noise. I listen to all kinds of music from Rock to Rap, Jazz to Country, Folk to Metal, and R&B to Electronic. My method for organizing it is fairly straight-forward, and involves keeping everything properly categorized, which results in songs being played in the right context. For me, this means adding comments to individual tracks or albums that will blend genres with the help of smart playlists, which I cater to express a specific mood or theme. It works perfectly and, to this day, I’m awestruck and amazed by the capabilities granted to us by simple, free applications like iTunes. I love the idea of setting a few simple parameters that throw three or four hundred compatible-sounding songs into a playlist and granting your playback device permission to pick their play order for you. This instills in me a childlike sense of angst that leaves me guessing in anticipation what the next song or artist may be. However, ask any professional DJ and they will tell you that there are rules to follow when playing music in this manner, and the one that seems to be universally understood is that you don’t play the same artist two times in a row.

This brings me to my personal yet public plea to Apple, and I hope someone out there in the upper echelons is listening. I understand that randomization does not mean even distribution. It’s fairly straight forward. Flip a coin ten times and there’s still a chance that it will land tales every time, and that’s still random. If one of my playlists features an artist that is weighted significantly higher in content than others, I understand the chances of that artist’s music ending up snuggled closer together within the confines of that playlist. Still, I’m not interested in my device shuffling music at random. All I’m asking my iPod to do is find a way to ensure that artists do not play back-to-back, at least within the first 30 or 40 songs of a playlist that boasts three or four hundred tracks. If that means you create a formula that throws most of the heavily weighted artist’s music to the back of the line in order to give others a chance at playback, so be it. At least I won’t want to rip my iPod out of its docking station and pitch it against the wall every time I hear the same artist or, even worse, the same artist from the same album played back-to-back within a playlist featuring a wider pool than my local Clear Channel radio station.

I may be wrong, but it would appear that iTunes once allowed its users to indicate how likely it should be for its software to repeat the same songs, or artists, or albums. In fact, I know this feature existed because the urge to toss my iPod out the window when this happens suddenly disappeared and made me a very happy person for a short while. There must have been at least a year, maybe two, of listening bliss, rare sightings of back-to-back servings of the same artist, and then Apple updated iTunes to 8.0 … gone. It’s gone. They dropped the feature and feelings of pent up rage once again bubble inside as my new iPod classic feels content, even proud, to distribute three Oasis songs in a row. I fail to understand the logic here, and while I prefer not to go back to hand-picking tracks out of a library of thousands to avoid taking my frustrations out on a simple and virtually lifeless mechanical device, it would appear that my only option may be to abandon smart playlists altogether and, consequentially, abandon the iPod.

Apple. If you’re out there. I’m begging you. Please address this issue, openly and honestly, for the sake of those who truly believe in your products, their value, and their justified added expense. I know I’m not the only one voicing concern over such a seemingly simple request.