Organize Your Music Collection with MP3 Rename
Last Updated on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 11:36 Written by Alan Thursday, 17 May 2012 07:00
Organizing my music collection seems to be a never-ending task. I have literally worked on it off and on for a couple of years, although I admit it’s much more off than on. That’s mostly because there just isn’t any easy way to do it, despite trying many different software programs. Recently I stumbled across another program that I wanted to try out. This one is called MP3 Rename, but it’s a lot more powerful than the simple name implies.
MP3 Rename is an absolutely free program and it doesn’t come with any little extras like browser toolbars. It’s also a very small, lightweight program, as evidenced by its 130 KB download size.
The main interface isn’t necessarily simple, but most experienced users shouldn’t have any problem finding their way around. You can drag and drop files and folders straight to the top pane of the app, or browse your network for the music files you want to fix.
Once you have added your files you will need to figure out how you would like to structure the renaming. This is where the program gets a bit complicated. This will come down to the file information you have and what you prefer. In most cases I prefer to use the ID3 Tag info. The Rename files tab lets you use ID3 info from the file. You can also enable Force extension to .mp3 on the renamed file option, and unpack and rename compressed files in music folder.
There are other tabs to choose from that give you many features, some of them very advanced. I could spend a long time going through them and still not be able to explain everything. This app is definitely for more advanced users, but those users will reslish the control they can get with it. Even better, it’s completely free. MP3 Rename is available for Windows XP, Vista, and 7. You can download it from Nodesoft.
Pandora Comments on Windows Phone App
Last Updated on Monday, 14 May 2012 10:09 Written by Alan Tuesday, 15 May 2012 11:00
Pandora, the popular music app, has mobile versions available for both Android and iOS, but they still lack a Windows Phone app, despite user requests. In fact, other developers have stepped up to the void and released unofficial apps. Pandora, if you aren’t familiar, allows users to create their own web-based radio stations and steam music to their PC or mobile device for free (or unlimited with a paid account).
Pandora, when recently asked about Windows Phone, answered a user, who then forwarded the response to the web site WPCentral for their information. Despite the recently altered API, developers should still be able to craft apps for the mobile OS that play nice with Pandora, such as Radio Controlled.
As for an official app, unfortunately, it’s still a “don’t hold your breath” proposition at this point. Below is the complete response from Pandora on this question.
“Thanks for writing and for the feedback. Thanks also for your interest in having Pandora on Windows Phone 7. We are not developing an app at this time, but we will definitely keep it in mind while planning our product priorities for the future.
We know that our recent release has broken most unsupported Pandora clients, and we do apologize for the surprise and inconvenience that undoubtedly caused to your listening experience.
At a basic level, third-party applications are violating our Terms of Use and are obviously not authorized to sell (or give away) something that fundamentally derives its value from our product.
Beyond the boilerplate, though, the fact is that–while the use you are writing in about seems designed mainly to help folks listen to Pandora in their own way–some folks do use third-party unsupported client libraries in a harmful way, and so we make changes when we need to prevent this. Regrettably, we have no way of targeting changes towards some unsupported clients and not others–some are respectful of our business, but unfortunately we can’t tell them from those that are not.
Even disregarding attempts at malicious use, we do of course still have to continue to upgrade our software, and unsupported clients have been broken by these sorts of routine changes many times in the past as well.
We definitely do recognize that our actions limit the options available to well-intentioned listeners who do not want to use any of our endorsed clients, and we’re genuinely sorry for the inconvenience this brings to our enthusiastic listeners like yourself! We really appreciate your support of the service and respect the DIY spirit, but our hand has been forced on this issue.
Thanks so much for your understanding, and thanks again for reaching out.”
Hanso Player is an Alternative to Windows Media Player
Last Updated on Sunday, 1 April 2012 08:48 Written by Alan Sunday, 29 April 2012 06:00
Most Windows users are happy to stick with Windows Media Player, and many probably aren’t even aware they can change that as the default. For those more advanced users there are plenty of alternative music apps for all of the Windows operating system versions. One new alternative for WMP that we recently found is called Hanso Player.
Hanso Player can handle pretty much any file format that you can throw at it - MP3, MP4, MPC, FLAC, OGG, WAV, WMA etc. The app features “Dynamic Playlists”, meaning randomized playback can learn your tastes - the more you listen to music, the better it will learn your preferences. It also comes with a built-in internet radio.
Hanso Player is a free download and is compatible with Windows 7, Vista, and XP. You can get it by visiting Hanso Tools. The rich features present in the software make it a great alternative to many other audio players available in the market.
