Listen to your iTunes library over the Internet.
My friend PJ asks me if I knew an application that would allow him to listen to the iTunes music library of a friend over the Internet. He mentioned Simplify Media.
I tested the application yesterday. Simplify Media is an application you install on the computer (Mac or PC) where the shared library is on and on the computer (Mac or PC) you want to listen from.
After the application’s installations are done, your iTunes library will appear on your friends iTunes application under “Shared”. It is easy to configure. Simplify Media put the directions here. First you will need to open an account to share your library and then you will have to send invitations limited to 30 of your friends.
The application works on PC and Mac and it is free. A paid version exists for the iPod Touch & iPhone.
My Impressions:
I wonder how legal it is to share your music library online. I think that sharing music over the Internet is a little risky. Being limited to 30 users may reduce the risk.
The software company says: “It is legal because the music is streamed friend-to-friend and only within a small, private group. There are limits to how many friends can be on your Media List and how many listeners can concurrently stream music from your computer. Friends cannot burn remote songs to CDs, transfer them to an iPod or MP3 player, or access them when you are logged off”.
It is a great tool, because it is well thought out and easy to use. I would be careful not to share it with to many users in the same time, because it slows the streaming. I would prefer to be able to share only some playlists instead of my complete iTunes library.
One more thing:
My MacBook Air has a 80GB HD. My iTunes library (60GB) and my iPhoto library (29GB) are both on an external HD (LaCie 320 GB). I’m looking for a better and safer way to store these two libraries and also access them easier and faster. Simplify Media does not allowed that.
What I would like: To have my Music libraries on Time Capsule at home and to be able to access it and update it over the Internet.
Where do you store your music? Do you share it?
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