BeaTunes for Mac review
BeaTunes is an application designed to create a well-organized an analyzed music library on your Mac. Typically, it does this by helping to correct the flaws in your iTunes library. It searches for inconsistencies that might be causing organizational issues, and then gives you options to repair the conflicts.
Pros
iTunes library repairs: If you've got a lot of songs in your iTunes library, there is a good chance that you've got at least some albums that are classified incorrectly. Sometimes you might have one artist show up as two different artists in iTunes, for example. Another common problem is an album that gets divided instead of being logged as a single album. BeaTunes searches your library for errors of this type and then gives you options to correct them.
Advanced analysis options: If you're looking for a powerful tool to help you create playlists, BeaTunes can fill that need. It can analyze your entire library and track both the key and the BPM of every song. This allows you to create playlists of songs that have a similar tempo, or which are harmonically similar.
Cons
Confusing menus: It is likely that you'll need to access the help or F.A.Q. to make sense of the more advanced features in BeaTunes. There is no intuitive path through the program, and you have to wade through menus in order to do anything except a basic inspection.
System slowdown: When BeaTunes is running, we noticed a systemwide slowdown. It was constantly trying to sync with iTunes , which caused frequent slowdowns.
Bottom Line
If you've got a huge iTunes library full of conflicts, you may find BeaTunes to be the fastest way to get your library in order quickly. However, the program can slow your computer down and is a little confusing when you use it for the first time.
Editors' note: This is a review of the trial version of BeaTunes for Mac 4.0.10.
