So yesterday iTunes was updated to include iTunes Plus, which is DRM-free music at a slightly higher quality and slightly higher price than the regular iTunes stuff. DRM-free means you can play it on whatever you want. However, it does have your account information tagged to the file. Some people have big issues with this, but I don’t. You say you’d buy music if it was DRM free, so they do it, and then you don’t want your name on it? It’s only an issue if you plan to share it illegally. But that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms.

With DRM-free music, you can now put those songs on ANYTHING, right? How about your Nokia N95 (or other S60 device?) Easy as pie. I use iTunes on my computer, but I don’t buy from it. I’d much rather buy the CD and rip it, that way I have a backup if my HDD gets erased or something. Plus I already had a junkload of CDs from a long time ago, and there’s no reason to buy the same thing 2x. So somehow, you’ve got a bunch of DRM-free music in iTunes. What’s the easiest way to get that onto your N95?

iTunes Agent.

iTunes Agent is a really small little app that plugs into iTunes. It’s
very easy to setup.

The first thing you want to do is go to iTunes and create a new smart
playlist. I have mine setup to ignore several genres (such as
Classical, instrumental, stuff like that), and to add anything that I
haven’t played in the last month, up to 1GB. Name this playlist
whatever device you’re going to use with it (i.e. N95).

Once you’ve installed iTunes Agent, go to "configurations." In the setup, you first name your device (this is
useful if you’re going to do it with multiple phones or mp3 players).
Next, you pick how you want the music loaded onto your device. I like
this, cause there’s a flat option. That’s what I like. Toss it all in
one simple folder, with Artist - Title.mp3. That’s it. You can also put
it in Artist folders, or use iTunes’ method. The next option is where
you want to store it, i.e. what folder you want all your music in on
the device.

The third setting is my favorite. You have to pick a folder/file path
that’s unique to that device. This is what allows you to easily use
multiple devices with the app. Basically, when I plug my N95 in, iTunes
Agent knows that I plugged something in, and it goes and looks for
folders. When it finds my Podcasting folder, it knows that I’ve plugged
my N95 in, and not the N800.

Now, go back to that playlist you created above. The last step is where
you can associate that player with a certain playlist. Now click save.
Now you can, in 2 clicks, synch your device with a smart playlist in
iTunes, allowing you to easily get a whole new set of music every time
you plug your phone in. Obviously, you could create a static playlist,
but that’s no fun. Just remember, when you plug your N95 in, select
"Mass Storage Mode." (if you’ve changed your font and can’t, the great
thing about iTunes Agent is you can just as easily power your phone off
and put the memory card in a USB card reader and it’ll still recognize
it as your N95)!

I’ve tried several different methods, and this is by far the easiest
way to get new music on your mobile device with the minimal effort.

*Update* Shane, in the comments, points out that there are issues with how Apple has encoded these iTunes Plus files. You can read how to work around it here: http://www.shasam.net/archives/58

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