Would you pay someone to add all the correct song titles and cover art to the songs in your iTunes library? TuneUp is an iTunes plugin that aims to make cleaning up your music library as easy as drag-and-drop. The program attempts to automatically tag a user’s music library by analyzing the musical data in each file, even if a song has been previously mislabeled. TuneUp’s digital fingerprinting technology is powered by a partnership with GraceNote, which features a database of over 80 million songs. The program is currently available as an invite-only beta on Windows, with a Mac version on the way.
If you’re looking to try TuneUp out on a Windows machine, you can grab one of 100 invites here.
The interface is simple and intuitive. Upon launching iTunes, a sidebar appears with four tabs labeled “Clean”, “Cover Art”, “Now Playing”, and “Concerts”. TuneUp’s biggest draw are the Clean and Cover Art tabs, which utilize the Gracenote database. To use each, the user simply selects a batch of songs and drags them to the appropriate field. Each song is quickly analyzed, and the program presents a number of possible matches for the user to either apply or discard.
In practice the cleaning functionality works well. Even after stripping all ID3 data embedded in MP3s from a portion of my music library, TuneUp was able to correctly identify songs at least 90% of the time. The system that is used to compare potential data and album art was especially useful, as it allowed me to choose which album each song belonged to (I no longer have Led Zeppelin’s “IV” scattered across four different Greatest Hits albums).
TuneUp is currently planning to offer a subscription plan for its service, though it has yet to work out the details. This presents a problem, as cleaning up a music library is typically a one-time ordeal. It is also a chore, and many people would just as soon put off the chore than pay to be able to do it faster.
In addition to cleanup, as a way to offer long-term value, TuneUp has included a number of recommendation features. “Now Playing” offers a list of album recommendations, YouTube videos, and eBay auctions related to the song that is currently playing. “Concerts” presents a basic calendar that lists any upcoming events in a region.
While consumers may be willing to pay for the program’s cleanup feature, I’m skeptical about its long-term utility. The Concert listing could be handy, but some of the recommendations provided by “Now Playing” are already provided by iTunes through its Music Store. And there are other recommendation plug-ins for iTunes that have more traction, such as iLike. Instead of pursing a subscription model, TuneUp might want to consider a one-time purchase price of around $20 or an affiliate fee model tied to its recommendations.
TuneUp will face competition from services based on the MusicBrainz project, which offers a free alternative to Gracenote’s music-fingerprint database. They also face a threat from Apple - iTunes already uses Gracenote to download album information whenever a CD is inserted into a computer, and they could easily implement song lookup.
Invite like goes to Zoomerang
Hi Tobias,
The link is fixed now.
Cool. Thank you!
thank you for post
Hi, Gabe Adiv here, the CEO of TuneUp. First off, thanks for writing the piece. I’m glad to hear that TuneUp cleaned up most of your music and cover-art. Just wanted to clarify a few quick details:
1) There will be a totally free version that will allow you to clean up a substantial number of songs and album covers. This version will include the “Concerts” and “Now Playing” features as well.
2) The Concerts tab shows you a calendar based on your own music collection - so it’s not just any event, it’s personalized to the artists you have in your collection.
3) While we are still exploring final pricing, there will *definitely* be a one-time fee available for about $20.
4) The 100 invites are exclusive for for those TechCrunch readers interested in the beta of the Windows client - first come, first served!
Thanks again, we look forward to getting the product to you later this Summer!
I use this service when I work. Great write up and thanks!
Wasnt this tried a few years ago? I have been looking for something just like this.
Jason,
I’m thrilled that someone still listens to the Darkness besides me
My library is a mess and I need this.
@ Gabe - is there any de-duplication capability?
Hi Dave-
We will definitely be adding de-duping as well. Trying to get it into 1.0, might be 1.1.
Thanks,
Gabe
Hey Gabe,
How about adding the ability to have all the lyrics from each song put into your iTunes aswell?
@Gabe, Once that’s added, I’ll gladly pay. I think others will too. My library has moved between so many iPods and laptops that I have duplicates I just can’t eliminate.
@Matt- Lyrics is definitely on the way as well!
@Dave - Thanks for the feedback. Doing everything we can to get the de-dupe feature into 1.0
Thanks,
Gabe
@Gabe - You seem very accommodating, any chance foot rubs will be forthcoming as well?
@Gabe - when will the email invites go out?
i signed up at 2:30p, so i’m pretty sure i was within 100. =P
While this looks cool, I fear it will not be able to distinguish from a hundred other mp3 utilities I’ve tried, many of them with Gracenote capabilities. Gracenote is great if you listen to the same top albums that everyone else buys, but when your collection is made up of live sets, mix tapes, radio shows, and vinyl rips like mine, Gracenote just doesn’t measure up.
I have tagged a ton of albums with MusicBrainz, and it works really well. I still have to do manual matching for around 20% of tracks and albums, but most well-named or well-ripped CDs will work automatically.
Anyway, I reserve judgment until I play with it on some mp3s. Until then, I say looks great, good luck!
@ Tim G - foot rubs more of a 2.0 feature
@delaneyomg - invites will go out later this week - we’re way past 100 already but will try to sneak in a few more
@TheFlamingoKing - thanks for reserving judgment. We, like you, have been extremely frustrated with what’s available in re: to existing “clean-up” applications. We tested what was out there and are quite confident that our solution is much more accurate and easier to use, but we’ll let you be the judge!
Thanks,
Gabe
I’ve tried EVERY single Tag Fix application and service. They all suck. Why? because none are 100% effective and none adhere to any particular standard. So you end up with The Tubes being renamed to Tubes, The or 8 differnt genres for Bob Dylan.
I am anxious to try this service but certainly wont be hailing them as THE solution until they are actually able to accurately tag my 50k song library without causing me more pain.
@17
Bob Dylan probably does fit into about eight different genres, depending on the song/album.
@Dave Donohue
I miss them. There just isn’t enough spandex in the world without them.
I would totally pay for this. Tagging my library takes hours.
—– thanks for report gabe —-
دردشة
Ironic that TuneUp is using the same database, Gracenote, that messed up the tags in the first place. Here in Korea, several media players use Gracenote MusicID and the data is very bad. Always need to fix the data by hand. Don’t know much about MusicBrainz. Iriver just changed its database from Gracenote to AMG. The AMG data is much better than Gracenote was. Photos, biographies, reviews, all very nice. No need to “Clean” since the tags are already clean.
TuneUp’s other features sound good, but using Gracenote to “Clean” tags is ridiculous to me.
I have to agree with JJ Park.
I very much wish to have something that clears up the mess iTunes creates with imported songs. But the Gracenote CDDB is not the solution, it’s the problem. This database is riddled with incoherent Band spellings, completely out-of-whack genre descriptions and all other subtle annoyances one can think of.
So i stick with the folder navigation on my iRiver. Then I know where I find my music.
I have been using this since I got the e-mail this morning. It is the best since sliced bread! I have cleaned 10 gigs of music in less than 3 hours! Very little wrong info. Maybe 100 songs max. Thank you for this great product.
I’ve been using this product for the last few weeks now and love the clean-up feature. Surprisingly, it’s also really fun to have cover art where I had none before.
I’ve seen the product get faster and easier to use and can’t wait to see the final version!
Keep up the good work!
The above post is not me. I still love this program. If there are MODS on this board please verify that the e-mail address match and if they dont (which they wont) please delete the post from Casey on May 18th at 6:44am.
I have finshed all of my music and I recommend it to anybody who have tag issues. like I said before THANK YOU for this program
Casey
ok.. Seriously… MODS… please look at the post and compare e-mail addresses. Please delete the ones that are not from the original e-mail address. I am the only “Casey” that has posted and this is really pissing me off. I have used the program and somebody is coming in and trying to change my words. Maybe these comments should be moderated a little bit better? Hell, there is a reason why you require our e-mail address when posting.
Thanks,
Casey
@27
Obviously you are Gabe or one of his previously employed at Gracenote cohorts.
@ 28
I made a mistake in my post on 29. I meant @28.
I really think this job should be done by apple!! I’m kinda sick of itunes and I’m not very happy that their music is drm.. I stumbled upon a pretty cool music store http://www.polybonk.com yesterday which also offer a really nice subscription deal. From what I gather they just launched their site.