Measure beats per minute in iTunes
If you're an aspiring DJ or are holding a party, then it's useful to know the beats per minute (BPM) of your tracks so that you can mix them in a way that doesn't sound terrible.
BPMer is a plug-in for iTunes which allows you to do exactly this, so that you can better mix your tracks. BPMer features a completely automatic BPM detector which can process batches of MP3 files or entire iTunes playlists. It can even automatically write the BPM to the metadata of the MP3 file and export the results to iTunes, so glancing through your playlist makes it easy to identify tunes with a similar BPM rating.
While for most MP3 or AAC files BPMer works fine, it does sometimes struggle with certain tracks. If it can't detect the right BPM, it applies a random number, so be careful when mixing for the first time! The other problem is that it does take quite a while to analyze your music. The same goes for showing the progress log, which almost crashed my system.
The big advantage of BPMer is that you don't need to put your music in an external application to calculate their BPM - you can do it directly in iTunes. The disadvantage, as mentioned, is that results may not be entirely accurate and it can be slow.
Note that to see the BPM in your iTunes playlists, you have to select 'View' in iTunes and then 'View Option', and select 'BPM'.
BPMer has plenty of bugs and drawbacks but it is one of the most convenient ways to assess the BPM of your iTunes collection to make your mixes sound more impressive.
User reviews about BPMer
by Anonymous
They released a script to reset original beginnings and endings.
Not so bad since I found that they released a script to reset beginnings and endings of songs to their original. They should include it with the app. And I am not sure it will reset thousands of songs in one sweep. I had to reset mines by groups of about 50 to 100.
Pros:
Ease of use
Cons:
Incomplete, should include the reset script with a caveat not to modifiy in batch but on a needs basis. More
by Anonymous
Stay Away. Seriously ! Don't do as I did..
Be careful if you use the BPMer option to reduce intros. The result is not good at all, even awful, and the app does not allow you to reverse this operation. You will have to do it manually song by song. And you don't want to do that with a library containing thousands of songs. And, I was forgetting, the bpm values are not always accurate. More
by Anonymous
Be careful if you're devoted to your cover art.
I ran a little test with some songs. It added the right BPM to a few tracks but also deletes some of you cover art. So be careful!
Pros:
It's free
It's easy to use
Cons:
Ruins your cover art
Some unclear options 'Exports to iTunes?' More