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ing methods, you can add a new column type to the list view by right-clicking or Control+clicking any
of the column titles and selecting a column option from the list that appears.
Burn your books
Well, don't actually burn them but make sure that iTunes Match doesn't pick them up for scan-
ning. Audiobooks are big files and aren't necessarily always marked as audiobooks but as music. To
stop iTunes Match from wasting time uploading them to iCloud, select all the audiobooks in your lib-
rary and press Command+I on a Mac or Ctrl+I on a PC to edit their info. In the Options pane of the
dialog box that appears, select Audiobook from the Media Kind pop-up menu. Of course, you might
want your audiobooks to be uploaded to iCloud, in which case, leave them be or, if you can handle
not having them in your iTunes library, save them somewhere else on your computer and remove
them from iTunes before starting iTunes Match.
Get cheaper, better quality music
Now here's a cunning plan and one that's perfectly legitimate thanks to the subscription fee you
pay for iTunes Match each year. It's a simple technique but one you might not have thought of. Here
goes: The next time you want to buy music, don't buy it from the iTunes Store. That's right. It might
sound odd but, if you can buy the same music cheaper from another source, do it. Thanks to iTunes
Match, that same music can be added to your iCloud library but you don't have to have bought it at
the full iTunes price to access it on all your devices. So, first check the price of the song or album you
want to buy on iTunes and then shop around the other online music stores.
Amazon.com and Google Music usually have good deals, and there are many more options out
there. Likewise, if you can pick up a copy of an album on CD for cheaper than the iTunes price, do it.
You can then rip the disc to your iTunes library and add it to your iCloud library. Similarly, if you can
find music that's cheaper but at a lower bit rate (quality) than you're used to, don't be put off. When
added to iTunes Match, you'll automatically receive the 256Kbps-quality AAC versions from iCloud.
Of course, if you are going to buy your music elsewhere, it's best to make sure it's available in the
iTunes Store too or it will have to be uploaded to iCloud, not matched.
Take the cautious approach
If you're not prepared to sit and wait while iTunes Match goes through thousands of the songs in
your library, there is another option. This is also a good tip for anyone with an iTunes library with
more than 25,000 songs, the limit you can store using iTunes Match.
All you need to do is to create a new, clean iTunes library to sit alongside your existing, everyday
library. Start by selecting the songs from your original iTunes library that you want to use with
iTunes Match, and drag them out of iTunes and into a folder somewhere on your computer. Now
close iTunes and launch it again while holding the Option key (Mac) or the Shift key (PC). A window
appears asking you to select the library you want to use as well as the option to create a new one.
Click Create Library and call it something memorable like iTunes Match. You now have a blank
iTunes library to play with, and you can simply drag the folder of music you created earlier into this
library to use it with iTunes Match. To avoid confusion, uncheck the Copy Files to iTunes Media
Folder option in iTunes' Preferences dialog box's Advanced pane.
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