The Random Playlist Battle - iTunes Genius
Our last randomly generated playlist was created by Rhapsody's "Instant Playlist" feature, which selects songs based on your previous listening history.
The new playlist in this post was built by Apple's "Genius" software, which comes included with iTunes 8.0 software.
There are some big difference between the "Instant Playlist" feature of Rhapsody and the "Genius" feature of iTunes.
Rhapsody subscribers can have any song from Rhapsody's 6 million + catalogue added to their playlist, whether they own the song or not. This creates a huge opportunity for discovering new music. iTunes Genius can also deliver song suggestions, but if you don't have the song file on your hard drive all you'll get are :30 second samples. This is not the most ideal way to discover new music, and it's the main reason I'm such a big fan of subscription music. It allows you to hear full songs before you buy them.
I would say that Rhapsody is the hands-down winner if you're desire is to discover something new, but there's no doubt Genius does an excellent job of creating a playlist that you'll love. One of the reasons it creates such good playlists is the same reason it's not the best tool for music discovery.
It uses your own music library.
Since my computer holds a collection of music that I already love Genius has a leg up when randomly generating a playlist.
Where Rhapsody uses your previous listening history to create a playlist, Genius requires you to select a song in your library first. Then, after you click the button to create a playlist, it pulls in songs that fit with the style of the track you've selected, much like Pandora. The song I chose for my Genius test was "A Nervous Tic Motion Of The Head To The Left" by Andrew Bird. I didn't think too much about what song to use, but simply picked the first great track that appeared alphabetically in my library. My results were fantastic as the playlist below demonstrates.
For me, Rhapsody's "Instant Playlist" is the best choice for discovering new music, while iTunes' "Genius" is a better choice for those times I want to enjoy music I already love. Genius might help you discover new music if you don't mind :30 second samples, but I'll go with the full length versions every day of the week.
My iTunes Genius Generated Playlist
1. In The Aeroplane Over The Sea - Neutral Milk Hotel
5. Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then) - The Decemberists
6. The Mending of the Gown - Sunset Rubdown
7. Marching Bands Of Manhattan - Death Cab For Cutie
8. This Modern Love - Bloc Party
9. The Magic Position - Patrick Wolf
13. What I See - Planet P Project
14. Nocturno En Batanga - Bebo Valdes
As a reminder, here are the tracks that were randomly selected by Rhapsody's "Instant Playlist" feature. Which one do think is better so far, iTunes or Rhapsody?
My Rhapsody "Instant Playlist" Generated Playlist
2. Walk On By - Asleep at the Wheel
3. Die Gedanken Sind Frei (Thoughts Are Free) - Brazilian Girls
4. Saturday's Gone - Isobel Campbell
5. Don't Let Me Be Lonely Tonight - James Taylor
6. Say It Loud (I'm Black And I'm Proud) - James Brown
12. Cry, Cry, Cry - Johnny Cash
14. Time Of The Preacher Theme - Willie Nelson
15. Summer Lies - Magnetic Fields
Follow what Robert is listening to on Twitter.
As for genious, its wortheless for me, I don't own any music, save Bruce's new album.
Just one more thing Robert, how much does your current subscription to Rhapsody cost? Sounds good to me.