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The key to keeping a clean and organized iTunes library lies in the way you use Tags. Here are some practical tips to getting the most out of tags and staying on top of your huge iTunes music collection.

The key to keeping a clean and organized iTunes library lies in the way you use Tags. Here are some practical tips to getting the most out of tags and staying on top of your huge iTunes music collection.

It all starts with the tags, because they cover such a broad selection of your songs that they can update large sections at once, and from here you can use smart playlists to narrow down your organizing even further. When using playlists, always choose the Smart Playlist as this updates as your music collection changes.

Here's some more tips around tagging and why it is the key to managing and maintaining those ridiculously large itunes libraries of yours, because regardless of whether you paid for your iTunes music or you were savvy enough to get yourself a free iTunes gift cards to get songs for your iPod - there is nothing worse than an unorganized music library.

Tagging is one of those things that takes time, but it is also a no brainer, so use any downtime you have listening to tracks to go through and update the tags in your music collection.rate music on your iPod. Also, get Quicksilver or Butler and set up shortcut keys for assigning ratings to your music while it's playing. This streamlines the process a little more.

You can also spend 10 minutes doing some tagging in downtime, this can really help bring your music into line.

Make sure your music does not creep up on you by tagging everything as it arrives. The best way to do this is to use Smart Playlists (again a great way to help you stay organised) and call it 'recently added' and set it to include anything well, recently added. Set the playlist to only include unrated songs and once you rate and tag them they will no longer be on that playlist.

Genres are also an important factor and this is a case of less is more. Take the list and cull those that you either don't use or sound and look very similar. There is no point having 8 different types of classical music if you don't even listen to that type of music

The end result of all this is that you impose a system on your music, then trust that system.