Apple Updates iTunes to Version 11.02, Adds Composer View

Update: The Composers view option is new for iTunes 11.0.2., and is accessible not through "View Options," as shown in the original article, but rather through your iTunes preferences. You know, because that makes sense.

In any event, it is turned off by default, but if you activate it, you get a new button between "Artists" and "Genres" that will then group your music by composer, as shown below.

Composer Preference

iTunes 11.0.2 Composer View Option in Preferences

You might think this is limited to classical music fans, but most iTunes downloads and CDs ripped with access to the online database Apple uses for iTunes have Composer data embedded with them. So, if you want to see The Beatles, but only tunes written by George Harrison, you might see something like this:

Example

Some Beatles Tunes Written by George Harrison

Many pop and rock bands and their albums have a variety of composers credited for individual songs, and most country albums are written by a who's who of people other than the recording artist. Apple's new Composers view gives you a new way of exploring your library with that in mind.

The original article remains below:

Apple released iTunes 11.0.2 on Tuesday, an update with some conflicting patch notes. While iTunes 11.0.2 is available through the Mac App Store, the patch notes there are the main release features of version 11.0.

At the bottom of the list of new features is this note:

This update adds a new Composers view for music, improves responsiveness when syncing playlists with a large number of songs, and fixes an issue where purchases may not show up in your iTunes library. This update also includes other stability and performance improvements.

That's well and good except that the "Composers" view is available in version 11.0.1, too. So, count us suspect as to whether any of those patch notes actually refer to the new version. Better yet, Apple's Downloads site lists version 11.0.2, but offers up version 11.0.1.

iTunes 11.0.1 Screen

iTunes 11.0.1 View Options, With Composer View Checked

iTunes 11.0.2 Screenshot

iTunes 11.0.2 View Options, With Composer View Checked

What is more likely is that version 11.0.2 is a bug fix release. We'll update this article if we can find some clarity on the issue.

iTunes 11.0.2 for Windows 64 is available for direct download from Apple's Downloads site. It carries the same patch note quoted above. It should be available through the Apple Updater utility installed with Safari, iTunes, and QuickTime, too.