November 8, 2010

Expanded iTunes Sidebar Delivers Two Ways to Pursue Your Music Passions

iTunes Ping is a person-to-person network of connections centered around artists, the music they create, and fans' enthusiasm. Think of it as a giant floating music party where you can actually find the people you want to see, hear, and meet. iTunes Genius on the other hand creates a song-to-song network automatically from the data shared by the millions of iTunes customers who have turned it on for their libraries. You can think of it as a giant floating music party as well, but only the songs come, continually creating a record of who they're hanging out with which you can then take advantage of to find new music you might like.

The expanded iTunes Sidebar delivers information from both Ping and Genius as you move from song to song in your music library. The Ping section displays the latest activity of the song's artist if they have a Ping profile, plus the latest activity of people you're following -- paths you can follow to discover the songs and events your Ping network is into. The Genius section recommends related songs your own songs have been hanging out with at the Genius party. Two different guides into the worlds of music just beyond what you already know. You can hide and show the iTunes sidebar with the triangle control at the lower right of the iTunes window.