iPod: The Missing Manual, 7th Edition

Make a Genius Playlist in iTunes

Playlists are fun to make, but occasionally you just don't have the time or energy. If this is the case, call in the expert—the iTunes Genius. With the Genius feature, you click any song that you're in the mood for and iTunes brings back a playlist of 25 to 100 songs that it thinks go well with the one you picked.

The first time you use it, Genius asks permission to go through your music collection and gather song information. Then it uploads the data to Apple. When your information has been analyzed (by software) and anonymously added to a big giant database of everybody else's song info (for better suggestions), the Genius is ready for duty. Here's the procedure, step-by-step:

❶ Click a song title in your library.

❷ Click the Genius button at the bottom of the iTunes window. If you’re playing the song already, click the Genius icon in the iTunes display window.

❸ iTunes presents you with your new playlist in a flash.

❹ Use the buttons at the top of the Genius window to adjust the number of songs in the playlist, refresh it with new songs if you want a different mix, and—best of all—save the playlist permanently.

The Genius doesn't work if it doesn't have enough information about a song— or if there aren't enough similar songs available to match it with. ...