Organize And Manage Your Music Collection With MediaMonkey
May. 10th, 2008 | by Ellie |
MediaMonkey is a full-featured music player and music collection organizer. It can convert audio, automatically rename your files, find duplicates and missing tags, create and save playlists, generate statistical reports and more!
Believe it or not, MediaMonkey comes with many FREE features that make it easy to organize your music collection and enjoy the latest Gnarls Barkley or Beethoven. If you are throwing a party (wild, crazy, or otherwise), just set the “Party Mode” and you don’t have to worry about your friends and guests changing the playlist.
Why do I need MediaMonkey?
If you are like me and have gigs upon gigs of music but lack the technical knowhow (or patience) to manually edit the ID3 tags or download album covers, MediaMonkey is one of the best products on the market. It is easy to use and intuitive.
Do you have an iPod? Does iTunes make you want to scream and go running for the hills? MediaMonkey has built-in iPod support, so it just takes a couple of clicks and you can send music to your iPod and manage your iPod easily. You can also sync MP3 phones (like my LG Rumor) or other music players, too.
Are you into personalization? I am. And MediaMonkey’s community has skins (themes) available for just about every personality out there - and if you are into coding, you can build your own skins!
To sum it up, MediaMonkey does everything other players do, and more - for FREE.
Okay, you’ve convinced me, how do I get MediaMonkey?
Download MediaMonkey from its website - and for those power users who need faster CD/DVD burning capabilities, advanced timers, a sleep timer and more, the MediaMonkey “Gold” upgrade is $19.95.
Now that you’ve gotten MediaMonkey, let’s try updating our music collections!
Find Missing Album Art and ID3 Tags for your collection!
- In the folder-tree section on the left side, go to My Computer > My Documents (Documents) and Music (or the folder containing your music files).
- Select your “Music” folder, then select the “All” button. All of your music files will appear in the window. Your music files will appear in the main window. Click on the Album column to sort your songs by album.
- Select all the songs in an album. Either click the first song, press SHIFT and select the last song. Or, drag a box around the songs, like you do in Windows.
- Press CTRL+L to launch MediaMonkey’s Auto-Tag from Amazon feature. Wait a few seconds and you should see the artwork and track list for your album. Sometimes, the feature doesn’t pull the correct information from Amazon, but don’t despair - just clear the search field and manually enter the album name. You can also select the “down” arrow next to the album name and see if there are any other matches.
- Click the Auto-Tag button, let MediaMonkey do its magic and abracadabra! MediaMonkey adds embedded album art to your selected music tracks, as well as updated ID3 tag information - artist name, album, release date, record label and track names!
- Now,give yourself a pat on the back, get a drink of water, and repeat for all of your albums. Yes, this might take a while, but it is WELL worth it, don’t you think!?!
Further manage and enjoy your music collection with MediaMonkey!
When you right click on a selected album or song, you can find a whole set of features to help you further manage your music collection.
This includes basics like “Play” and “Play Next”, but also an option to “Send to…” a playlist, folder, music player or email!
My favorite feature is the “Get Info/Buy” - you can chose your local Amazon or CD Universe to purchase songs or albums or Google, Wikipedia or the Library to get more information on an artist or album.
I also like to rate songs, and make playlists with just 5 star songs and send to my friends or family.
Special tip: Rate a song as a “0″ and it gets a little “bomb” next to it in the playlist. Funny, huh?
Overall, MediaMonkey’s powerful tools can be enjoyable to use for everyone from music collectors old and new. Even without the MediaMonkey “Gold” option, users can manage their collections easily - and personalize the program to fit their personal preferences through drag and drop components to plugins and skins.
Do you use MediaMonkey? If so, what do you like about it? Or do you prefer another application to organize and manage your music?
(By) Ellie, a graduate student and “Jill of all Trades”, who blogs at Ultimate Geek Girl.
If you found this article useful then please help us spread the word by Stumbling It.
Filed Under: Cool Software Apps ¦ Windows
If you like this article then subscribe to MakeUseOf feed and get latest articles delivered to your Feedreader. If you want to recieve latest articles in your email click here. It's FREE!22 Comments Leave a Comment
MakeUseOf Authors
Latest in Blog
- Keeping Track of Live Music In Your City
- Three More Great Twitter Tools Worth A Look
- Cool Websites and Tools (edition #141)
- 2 Cool Programs to Stay Safe from Hackers
- Dreamweaver quality code editing with Aptana
- Two Random Alternatives to Stumbleupon
- The Wayback Machine - Browse The Internet Of Yester-Yore
Latest in Directory
- Stitcher: Listen to News and Blog Headlines from iPhone
- MobileTraffic : Check Traffic Cameras from Mobile Device
- Textris: Alphabetize, Sort, Label and Capitalize Lists
- Listaculous : Tabbed To-do List Manager
- Schmap: Free City Guides on your PC and Mobile
- GasBuddy: Check Gas Prices by State and City
- Good-Tutorials: Flash, Photoshop, CSS, HTML … Tutorials
- FixUpMyPic : Automatic Photo Improver
- Unblockall : Access Blocked Sites at Work
- PriceCheck: Check Product Prices from Mobile (UK only)
Latest in Geeky Fun
- Apple Tech Support (Video)
- Passwords Are Like Underwear (Pic)
- Downloading is Stealing: Antipiracy Ad (Video)
- Leave PC Alone !!!!!!
- Please Unsubscribe me from Your Internet
- Geek’s Plea for Help (Pic)
- Yes! I have The Mouse in The Upper Right Corner (Pic)
Recent Comments
- Laura: Great tool .This website rocks ..I am using this...
- ted: This is kind of a no-brainer (and it may not apply...
- oldhick: This is pretty old news but not bad. Unfortu...
- Sin: The BEST one is http://tvs hack.net/d ocumentari es/...
- Aibek: Thanks, I will check it out.
- Aibek: Nice one !
- john: Great list, but other than flogblog, the apps you...
- AskTheAdmin | Karl Gechlik: I don’ t know what i...
- derek: This Aptana looks almost same as Eclipse (popular...
- Daniel: Hi Moi! Yup, I agree with you in the word wrap...
MakeUseOf.com Tools
Sponsored Ads
I’ve used MediaMonkey for a couple of years now after trying all the WinAmps, iTunes, etc. and the Monkey rocks. It’s by far the best organized music player with a community forum that is hugely active. Check it out, there are lots of add-ons to customize the software.
Yes I know I sound like an employee, but no… just a happy user.
I absolutely love the MediaMonkey community. They are friendly and extremely helpful.
I discovered MM just over a year ago & love it. It’s well-organized & easy to use. When I want to make a mix-CD for someone it’s super easy to take a play list & burn it quickly. The party mode & sleep timer are a couple of my favorite features.
“Find Missing Album Art and ID3 Tags for your collection!”…..now THAT’s useful. There’s got to be something out there for Macs that does that. Anyone know of any?
Wow I found this really useful! I HATE Itunes when it comes to organising my music. Will definitely try this out! Thanks for the informative post =)
can’t replace MM with any others, period.
I have been using Media Monkey Gold for some time and find it far more intuitive than iTunes, not to mention using a ton less memory. Whenever I renew my mp3 Player I always use this and listen on the PC with it all the time.
Currently use Itunes, and I think it’s fine, much better than winamp. Maybe, i’ll give MM a shot-
I started using Media Monkey at work starting this week. My colleague was using it for a long time and recommended it. Looks pretty simple and useful, but I’m still not 100% familiarized with it because I’m a winamp user since my first computer, about 11 years ago.
Could you tell me please if it is going to work with iPod touch?
there is a list of ipods mentioned on the site (5 generations), but touch is missing
I really hate iTunes and looking for nice replacement
A quick Google search shows that some people say that MediaMonkey does in fact work with the iPod Touch. I don’t have one to test on - so if anyone else has used MediaMonkey successfully with the iPod Touch, let us know!
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████████████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░████████████░░░░░░░░████████████░░
░░████████████░░░░░░░░████████████░░
░░████████████░░░░░░░░████████████░░
░░████████████░░░░░░░░████████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░████████████████████████████████░░
░░deptaro░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░
Media Monkey sounds intriguing - but surely one of its failings as an iTunes replacement is its inability to deal with video. Isn’t it solely a music organizer?
By the way, I don’t use iTunes (I can’t stand it). I use winamp and the ml_ipod plugin which works like a dream - audio, video, the works - but if there was a better alternative, I might consider changing.
MediaMonkey was built to be compatible with WinAmp plugins - I have a few of the plugins installed.
To play video, I have the VID4wa Video Plug-in installed.
[...] it is more than enough for the typical user. Read my full-length review of MediaMonkey - “Organize And Manage Your Music Collection With MediaMonkey” -at [...]
I’ve used MediaMonkey very happily for a couple of years now and it’s a great piece of software. However, I bought the Gold(paid for) version earlier this year and I’ve hated it ever since and I use it less and less.
The theme from the free version is intuitive and makes great use of the desk real estate - the multiple themes available in the Gold are rubbish. I also wanted the “folder monitoring” feature, because I’ve just changed pcs. Despite moving all my music to the standard Vista “music” folder, MediaMonkey didn’t find several tracks until I did a database reconstruct.
This begs the question of why did I bother paying to “upgrade”? I’m actually considering removing the registration details and going back to the free version! Buyer, beware.
Hey!! thanks alot for posting this article. I have like 14 GB worth of sound files and organizing them is one hell of a job. I’ve tried various softwares but have not been satisfied with any so far. I am hoping that with the responses I see on this post, media monkey would be a good option to try out. I think media monkey should be advertised on a wider scale. I use this tool called MyPRGenie (www.myprgenie.com/technology/) for all my press content and I think its a great service which connects you to the customers instantly. Must try!
What skin is that screenshot using?
It’s the GILDED skin.
Man, what is with the “SLEEPY” comment above?
Another cool thing to do with MM: Auto leveling of music files, permanently or temporarily.
The best thing about MM is its extensibility using scripts. There are may scripts already in the forums, like ones to add lyrics automatically, scrobble your music library using last.fm and so on. Definately the best tool to organize your music library.
Ok, only the latest version works with iPod touch!!!
Great!