iTunes - Sharing Music

In the world of digitized music, the term "sharing" is slightly ambiguous. It can refer to un-contentious software features such as the "sharing" functions of iTunes, which allow you to listen to music stored on other computers on your home or office network. It can also refer to highly controversial practices, such as exchanging vast swathes of music with friends - the kind of thing that prompts the music industry to claim that there's no distinction between sharing copyrighted music and stealing it.

iTunes Sharing Over A Network

A network is two or more computers connected together, either with cables or a wireless technology such as Wi-Fi (AirPort in Mac-speak). If you have more than one computer in the house, networking them together allows you to share files, printers and Internet connection. If each computer is equipped with iTunes, a network also lets you "stream" music from one to another, with each computer having access to the music stored on the others - even between Macs and PCs. These days, setting up a home network can take seconds rather than days.

Start Sharing

First of all you'll need to set the sharing options for each computer on the network. Open iTunes Preferences and, under the Sharing tab, you'll see two main check boxes: "Look for shared music" (which instructs iTunes to find shared music on other computers on the network) and "Share my music" - which breaks down further into sharing your entire Library or just selected specified playlists. As for the "Shared name" box, whatever you enter here will pop up in the Source List of other users on the network.

Next, decide if you want to set a password for others accessing your songs: this option is not compulsory, but it could be useful if, say, you're embarrassed about your easy listening playlist. When you are done, click OK and start sharing.

Listening to shared music

Once you've set up two computers to share, their icons should appear in each other's Source List. Click the icon, entering the sharer's password if required, and you can browse these selections either directly from the Song List or by clicking the small triangle to the left of the shared music icon to reveal any playlists on the shared computer. Double-click a song and then sit back and listen as the streaming starts.

Copying music from computer-to-computer

The other way to share music is to literally move the relevant files from your iPod or computer to someone else's computer. It probably goes without saying that ripping a massive library of tracks from copyrighted CDs and then donating it to all your friends is against the law. But there are legitimate reasons for this kind of copying: you might have two computers in the same house, say, or be upgrading to a new machine. You might also be copying music you've downloaded from iTunes Music Store, in which case you're allowed to authorize a certain number of other computers to play each track.

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