In my opinion, one big gap that Android needs to fill in order to compete with the iPhone and become more popular is something that resembles iTunes. I love my Motorola Droid, but it does not come with media management software so I am left using various applications to keep the content updated. Of course, there are third party applications that can help fill the gap, but something doesn’t feel right when you pay hundreds of dollars for a device and have to locate a program to help transfer your media.
I previously provided my opinion on Double Twist as an excellent option for transferring music in a previous post. Double Twist provides support for synching music, photos, and videos with an excellent feature that will convert videos to the proper format for your device.
If you are only interested in transferring music and/or podcasts, Media Monkey is an excellent option. I have used Media Monkey for years to organize my music files and was delighted to find that it works with Android. I have always used the free version and it provides everything that I need, there is also a gold option available with additional features if you are interested in some advanced functionality. To get MediaMonkey The music manager for audiophiles, Click Here
My Favorite Features
One of the features that I use the most is organizing tracks and adding album art to my music files. I have been ripping cd’s for years and many of them did not have album art or inconsistent ID tags (ie album or artist spellings differently). With Media Monkey you can right click on the track and select Auto-Tag from web and then locate the album and copy all of the tag information and album art so it will appear correctly on the latest devices that display album art along with the music.
Once the tags are properly updated you can right click auto organize files to save them with a folder and file name structure so you can find them on your hard drive easier. You can do this process individually, or I typically highlight all of my songs and choose the option from the tools section to do all files at the same time. The all of my songs are organized in folders by Artist, Album, and file names in the correct album folders. You can fully customize the folder structure if you prefer a different method for organizing your files.
Another feature that I find useful with Media Monkey is that it allows me to manage music that is stored on a network drive on my home network. I was unable to do this with Double Twist, with Media Monkey you can manage all of your files by adding/re-scanning the folder whether on the hard drive or another pc on your network.
Synching with Droid (or other devices)
I use Media Monkey for managing music on my Droid, the procedures will be the same for most Android phones and similar for most other devices. After connecting the Droid with the usb cable you need to go to the notification on the phone and mount the sd card.
The first time I connected it did not recognize the device so I had to find the dropdown in the toolbar next to the device picture and select “Configure Device”. Then go to the tab on the right for Device Configuration, click Find Device to locate your device and enter what you would like for the Device Name. Once you do this once it should automatically recognize your device the next time you plug it in and show the name.
I made sure that the Auto-Sync options are not checked since my music library is too large to hold all of my music and I prefer to choose the songs to include on my phone. I have not used Media Monkey for podcasts, but there is a feature to Auto-Synch them on the first tab with I plan to check out. There is also a feature for Synching AudioBooks if that is something that interests you.
Once the Device Configuration is set, you can select OK to close the window and begin transferring files to the device. You can drag the tracks to the device or highlight the tracks you want to transfer and click on Sync Selected from the toolbar on the icon that shows a portable device.
I find the process to be simple and intuitive, once you do it the first time it is really easy to make future changes to you music.
Other Media Monkey Features
I use Media Monkey for managing my music files and synching with my Droid, but it does offer a lot of other features which makes it a viable solution for all of your music needs. For the full list of features including things like converting files, Auto-DJ for parties and other check out the site at http://www.mediamonkey.com/information/free/
Additional Information/Disclosure
I have provided an affiliate link to Media Monkey within this post that pays me a commission if someone buys the gold edition after following the link. I personally use Media Monkey and the potential commission had no impact on my review wich I planned to write before I was aware of the affiliate. However I want to make sure that readers are aware that I do have a relationship with Media Monkey and could profit by directing people to the site. I suggest using the free version, if there are additional features that you want after you using it you can upgrade at any time.
