Beyond organizing your entire library using custom tagging and sorting, Beatport Pro can help you prepare multiple smart playlists using a new filtering system, which you can then sync with Traktor, Serato, and rekordbox. Sep 17, 2015 Beatport Pro is a free application that allows DJs to buy and organize music and add extended metadata. One real advantage that Beatport Pro offers is ability to tag tracks with additional details like genre, mood, instruments and publishing which could be useful when searching for tracks in the heat of a set.
7008
Beatport has just announced Beatport Pro, a free updated version of its offline store browser for Mac, but now with tools and features aimed squarely at helping DJs organise their music collections too. It claims to offer a more convenient and specialised music library management solution for DJs, with better genre, metadata and filter handling, and the ability to work with samples and stems as easily as whole tracks.
What’s more, as Beatport Pro’s library can be “read” inside DJ software in the same way your iTunes library can, Beatport is claiming on this basis that it “integrates seamlessly with Rekordbox, Traktor and Serato” – making it the first non-iTunes music organisation software to do this.
New, DJ-friendly search filters and tag attributes let you view and search your DJ music library in creative ways, plus you can add extended metadata information to your entire collection from within the app (batch processing) – something it’s hard to find in Mac ID3 tag editors. The software appears to work fine with all music, not just that bought from the Beatport store.
Our first thoughts
Traktor Pro 2 Download
While iTunes may be the most practical media library software (which is why the vast majority of DJs use it), it isn’t the most powerful and is designed for general music and media management not specifically for DJs, so it’s not perfect at this task by any means. As DJ music libraries continue to grow in size and complexity, there is an increasing need for management software that can intelligently categorise audio types and parse collections based on more specialised search criteria and attributes. Beatport Pro is the first serious stab at filling in that niche for us DJs, and as long as it does indeed handle all your music (and not just Beatport purchases) in the same way, it is definitely worth a closer look.
Those who know us well at Digital DJ Tips will know that far from seeing music library organisation as a non-glamorous chore, we think it’s probably the most important thing that separates good DJs from great ones, and have dedicated many column inches and video minutes to helping our readers get this right – so we’re very much looking forward to bringing you our view on Beatport Pro in the next week or so having played with it. Watch this space!
• The software is due for release imminently, for Mac only, and is free. Find out more on the Beatport Pro website.
What do you think of this? Are you tired of having to create playlists in iTunes? Are you in want of a more efficient music management app, or on the other hand, are you content with creating playlists from within your DJ software? Let us know in the comments below!
you may also like
on Sep 17, 2015 in DJ & Live Performance 1 comments
Beatport Pro is a free application that allows DJs to buy and organize music and add extended metadata. One real advantage that Beatport Pro offers is ability to tag tracks with additional details like genre, mood, instruments and publishing which could be useful when searching for tracks in the heat of a set. It also offers integration with Beatport, making it easier to buy and purchase tracks. While many DJs may not be jumping at the notion of switching to a new system for organization, it's worth taking a closer look at this application, especially if you purchase a lot of music from Beatport.
Here's what Beatport Pro offers DJs:
- Easy importing
- Ability to create and manage playlists
- An organization system that's made for DJs and producers; sort your collection by tracks, stems, parts and more
- Enhanced meta data and tagging
- Advanced filtering and and filter presets
- Integration with Beatport
- Ability to Re-order Playlists
- Directly purchase and sort high quality WAV and AIFF files from Beatport
- Integrated Play Queue
- Download Manager
- Metadata Migration Assistant
Filters
One of the most useful features of Beatport Pro is the ability to use filters to sort through music collections. Filters can be added and used to quickly search to locate tracks. Filters can include the mood, style and publishing date and a wide range of other values. Rather than simply searching for the track title and artist name, you'll be able to find songs in different ways.
For me, one of the major drawbacks of digital DJing is that finding records to play is largely an uninspiring task. Back in the day, when DJs still used crates of records, you could randomly pull a song from your crate and want to play it because it evoked a certain emotion. Finding tracks by using filters like mood, rather than searching for song titles may lead to sets that are more spontaneous and fun to play.
All these benefits do come with a price; if you're already using another organization system, it's going to take time to import and re-tag your music collection with Beatport Pro. That being said, if you work at importing a couple tracks or playlists every day, over time you'll have a newly sorted collection. If you tag your tracks using the metadata tagging system Beatport Pro offers, you'll be able to search for music in non-traditional ways. That being said, change is good.
If you're ready to take the plunge, here's a guide on how to set up Beatport Pro with Traktor.
Download the Software
Start out by downloading Beatport Pro here:
The application is optimized for OS X Mountain Lion (or newer) users. Once the software is installed on your system, sign in using your Beatport username and password.
Import Your Tracks
(insert pic: add files)
Rather than importing an entire library, Beatport Pro works best if you import a few tracks at a time. You can do this by clicking: File/Add Files to Collection. Try starting out by importing tracks for one playlist. Beatport Pro doesn't copy the files to a new location; it just points to their original location.
Sync with Beatport
Next, click on one of the tracks in your library to highlight it and then click on 'Sync with Beatport' in the top right hand corner.
Make sure the title is typed correctly at the top of the screen and check the box next to the corresponding track in the Beatport catalog. Place a check mark next to the Metadata option(s) you'd like Beatport Pro to update. I have left 'Artist' and 'Key' unchecked because my files are analyzed with Mixed in Key. The keys of my records are written into the track's title and I prefer to keep the track titles as they appear after Mixed in Key analysis. I also leave the song's key metadata unchecked, as I find the Mixed in Key file naming system to be more accurate.
Editing
Below the track you can click on the pencil to open the editable regions for Genre, Mood, Vocal, Venue and Set Time. Use each of these categories to add information in the track; you can use the categories to quickly search for tracks in Beatport Pro. Once you've tagged the tracks, they're ready to be added to a Playlist. Create a new playlist by clicking on the Playlist tab on the left, then clicking on Add Playlist. Drag multiple tracks into the Playlist from the main Audio Collection.
Exporting
Once you've created your playlists (or a couple of them) you're ready to export the iTunes library file (.xml file) from Beatport Pro. To do this, click on Preferences, then Export. Place a check mark next to the box that says Export library as an iTunes Music Library file and choose the location where the file will be created.
Project Pro Playlist
Syncing in Traktor
Open up Traktor and click on the Preferences. Navigate to the File Management and in the Directories category, go to iTunes Music Library and select the .xml file you created with Beatport Pro by clicking on the '...!' box. Once you've selected your new Beatport Pro iTunes library file, close the Preferences. Lastly, refresh your iTunes library by right-clicking on the iTunes icon in Traktor's tree and clicking Refresh. You should see the playlists you created in Beatport Pro show up in Traktor.
If you do need to revert back to your previous iTunes library, simply select this iTunes library file in Traktor's Preferences. (File Management/Directories/iTunes Music Library) and then Refresh the iTunes library in Beatport.
Beatport Pro offers many organization advantages to music producers and DJs, such as the ability to organize by tracks, stems, parts, loops, oneshots and SFX. It also offers easy integration with Beatport, the most popular online store for cutting edge dance tracks. If you currently have an overcrowded library that needs weeding, Beatport Pro may be a great way to re-sort through your collection without discarding files. While it does take some time to get started with Beatport Pro, this application may be the answer for DJs who are looking for an alternative to iTunes.
Comments are closed.