Explore the Genius tool in iTunes

Hello, here’s a short screencast to explain how to use the Genius feature in the latest version of iTunes. Genius is an intelligent little tool that can be used to make playlists from tracks that will go well together or to get recommendations on the iTunes Store of stuff you might be interested in.

First let’s turn the feature on by highlighting the ‘Genius’ option in the sidebar then clicking the ‘Turn On Genius’ button. You’ll need to sign into your iTunes account with your Apple username and password, or create an account if you don’t already have one. Genius will now gather information about your library and use it to build up a profile of the stuff you like to listen to.

To create a Genius playlist from a song simply select the track in your Library then hit the Genius button at the bottom of iTunes. A playlist based on similar tracks in your collection will then be generated. You can choose to limit the number of songs and can save the playlist using this menu.

On the right-hand side of the interface you can see what’s called the ‘Genius Sidebar’. This gives you access to all manner of goodies related to what you’re listening to. You can check out other songs by the same artist, or try out Genius recommendations of songs from similar artists. Clicking the name of the artist will take you to a page on iTunes where all of their available works are available to buy. As always, you can preview a track before deciding whether to buy it or not.

I hope that using the Genius Bar helps you discover some great new music to stick on your MP3 player or play on your computer. See you next time.