iTunes (for Windows|Mac) has so much going on with its music library, playlists, and store, it's easy to overlook the little ways that this brand of software can improve your life.
Take CD mixes, for example. CDs may be passe, but they're not dead yet, and mixes make great gifts for anyone with a CD player built into their car, or anyone who hasn't sprung for MP3-player docking station.
With that in mind, the always-entertaining CNET Editor Brian Tong shows you how to create CD covers for mix CDs in iTunes, using iTunes and Amazon album art.
When Cover Flow for iTunes was first introduced, I was initially pretty excited. After all, who wouldn't want to browse through their music and movies by flipping through covers? It's almost like flipping through records or CDs at a music store. But once I got Cover Flow up on screen with iTunes, I was faced with something I'm sure a lot of people experienced--there were so few album covers associated with my music library, Cover Flow was almost useless. I've been able to add many covers to my library since, but I still had gaping sections where no cover art would show up at all.
Perform multiple searches simultaneously to fill in the blanks of your album art quickly.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Well, I have good news: there's a program available which will search several online databases to track down cover art for you, and does many more cool things to bring back that CD-flipping feeling of old to Cover Flow. It's called CoverScout, and though you will have to pay to register after a trial period, it really goes the extra mile to fill in the blanks of your music library. Like other programs of this type, it searches the Amazon.com database for matches, but CoverScout searches Google images too and can perform multiple searches simultaneously. It can also seek out art for singles and compilations with its advanced search system, so you're not limited to just the main stream albums. What's more, even if CoverScout can't find what you're looking for, you can use it to snap a picture of your CD cover with your Webcam or iSight camera to fill the art in manually. CoverScout supports iTunes, the iPhone, iPod Touch, and even the Apple TV.
Choose from multiple search results to find the exact cover you're looking for.
(Credit: CNET Networks)If you're like me, you probably thought Cover Flow was great until you actually saw how few albums were represented from your library. With CoverScout, you can breath new life into your iTunes music library and flip through your albums the way Cover Flow was meant to be used.
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