MacMost Now 922: A Look At iTunes Radio

Take a look at iTunes Radio, the new streaming music service from Apple. You can stream music based on a song, artist or genre using your Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Apple TV. You can create several stations and continue to customize them.

Comments: 33 Responses to “MacMost Now 922: A Look At iTunes Radio”

    adrian
    11 years ago

    is itunes radio available in canada? cannot find it on my 1phone 5 nither on itunes actually itunes "radio" is now showing as "internet"

      11 years ago

      iTunes Radio isn't available in Canada yet. Soon, probably.

        Vasco Galvão
        11 years ago

        Is there a list with the countries where it is available?

    Martin
    11 years ago

    I have downloaded the newest version of iTunes twice now, once directly from iTunes on my Mac, and once from the Apple website, and it shows that I have the newest version now (11.1), but Radio is no where to be found. I've asked around online to see if anybody has this problem, but I seem to be the only one. Bummer. It does work great on my iPhone 4S, though!

      11 years ago

      Go to your Music library. Look at the top. You should see: Songs, Albums, Artists, Genres, Radio, Internet. Click Radio.

        Martin
        11 years ago

        That's the problem.........it continues to say "Match" where it's supposed to say "Radio".........and it won't let me update again because it says I have the current version. Weird.

    Paul Hadlow
    11 years ago

    Great video but it is a shame iTunes Radio is not yet available in Australia but at least when it does get here I'll know how to use it.

    Jack
    11 years ago

    Seems like, "imitation is the most sincere form of flattery." I've been a paid subscriber to Pandora for years, but iTunes Radio is currently less expensive. Thanks, Gary, ...always interesting videos/tips/hints and info.

    Allan
    11 years ago

    iTunes Radio didn't show up on my updated Apple TV so I called Apple Support/Apple TV. They didn't know why, put me on hold, and came back to tell me it will be a near future feature on upcoming Apple TV. All Apple promo sites show it is available, but it's not.

      11 years ago

      The 6.0 upgrade was pulled for a bit, but I think it is back now. You need Apple TV 6.0 for iTunes Radio.

        Allan
        11 years ago

        Did another lengthly update this morning and Radio is now there. Tried Abba radio as a test. One Abba song and 90 minutes without another Abba song. Guess they don't want to pay the royalties.

          11 years ago

          That's not the reason. The reason is that iTunes Radio (like Pandora or Last.fm) is for music discovery. You wouldn't discover any new music if you said you wanted Abba and all you got was Abba.
          If you want to hear only Abba, then create a playlist of all of your Abba songs and play it, shuffled.

    Steve
    11 years ago

    Pandora is much better. This thing seems to flip a coin to decide what to play next. I created five stations and have deleted them all. Another Tim Cook White Elephant!

      11 years ago

      Try adjusting some of the controls for the station. You can set it from Hits to Variety to Discovery. Discovery is probably more like Pandora, with more of an emphasis on song similarity and less on whether the song is popular. Plus, you can "Add Artist Or Song" to fine-tune your station.
      Your results are going to be different than Pandora because iTunes is a much much larger music collection.

        Carole Martin
        11 years ago

        How do you delete a 'station' once you click it. Do they all cost?

          11 years ago

          On a Mac, you Control+Click on the station and then select delete.
          iTunes Radio is free. If you pay for iTunes Match you get "no commercials" on iTunes Radio as a bonus.

    Rich
    11 years ago

    I'm going off topic first by saying you are my "go to" for anything Apple related. Always very well explained without dumbing down.

    Back on topic- I'm admittedly an older guy, and they probably aren't gearing anything to my age (60), but I don't get the appeal of these services. I set up an Elton station - it took 8 songs to hear an Elton song! I LOVE Rhapsody. You pay them, you download or stream exactly what you like. Done! (No -I don't work for them!!)

      11 years ago

      "Radio" is the key word here. You can buy music, like always, or subscribe to a service, and you can play what you want. But iTunes Radio, like "Radio" is a way to discover new music. If you only listen to music that you specifically choose, then how will you discover new artists you may like? That's what radio has always brought to the music scene, and it is what iTunes Radio can do too. I use Pandora and now iTunes Radio so I can discover new artists.

    Squafdonoboles
    11 years ago

    I don't use itunes to listen to radio, but I've noticed a weird quirk in the program. When saving a song that begins with "A" or "The", it files the song beginning with the second word in the title. Example: "The Soft Parade" is filed under "Soft Parade". It's not a big problem, but it's annoying to have to go to "Get Info" and then "sorting" in order to make the correction. There doesn't seem to be anything in "Preferences" to change this.

      11 years ago

      I don't know if that is a quirk. That's intentional. Usually titles are sorted alphabetically that way.

    Ian
    11 years ago

    I have just looked in the settings of iTunes 11.1, didn't find iTunes Match but did find "Internet Radio" which I think is only available after I have purchased iTunes Match, so it is not showing now.

    Personally I am in the UK and I'll buy iTunes Match for the Radio feature, but only if it is available in the UK. I suggest the read following article published today which suggests it will be in the UK very soon.

    http://go.ian.so/1badwpQ

      11 years ago

      You do not need to purchase iTunes Match to use iTunes Radio. As I state in the video, iTunes Match will get you the benefit of no commercials in iTunes Radio, but you can certainly have iTunes Radio without iTunes Match.

    Mr Anthony Cotton
    11 years ago

    I see by your video you have good music taste. Picking The Beatles
    I can`t comment on this because I am waiting for the new Mac Mini`s to come out.

    Marsha Wilson
    11 years ago

    I love itunes radio. I do have a question. Why does it not play continuously? I was playing on apple tv and it played beautifully for quite awhile, and then the music stopped. When I started it on my computer again, it played. But I had to do this quite often after it first started. Can I fix this through Apple, or is it an internet problem.

    How do I turn the music off? Just exit the program?

      11 years ago

      Impossible to say. Could be any number of things causing trouble. To stop it, simply hit the pause button, or play something else.

    Shel
    11 years ago

    I am running iTunes 11.1 and can not locate "radio" anywhere on iTunes.

      11 years ago

      Go to your Music library. Look for Radio at the top.

    Janet
    11 years ago

    My iPhone4 has iTunes Radio but won't let me play anything. It says 'network unavailable." "Connect to Wi-Fi network or use cellular data for iTunes Radio." Then has a button "Use Cellular Data" Even when I press that button nothing happens. What should I do?

      11 years ago

      Impossible to guess what could be wrong without a first-hand look. But you can try things. Play around with it. Restart. Delete that station and create a new one. See what happens.

    Jack
    11 years ago

    Gary, your video show the "star" for "More Like This" and the "X" for "Never Play This Again" on an IOS device. Is there a similar way to do this when listening on my Mac? Is that the "Mavericks" you referred to? Also, is there a way to set up several "stations" to shuffle between?

      11 years ago

      When the song is playing in iTunes, move your cursor over the song name at the very top of iTunes. You'll see an arrow appear to the right. Click that and you'll get the star and other options.
      You can also double-click on the album art at the very top and it will expand to a mini player with the star and other options.

    Tony Cirocco
    11 years ago

    Gary, your piece is spot on, as usual.

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