Mojo: An Easier Way to Share Your iTunes

One of the most frustrating features of iTunes is the fact that you may be able to share your library with others on your network, but in the later iterations of the popular music-organizing app, it’s been virtually impossible to “share” your tunes with those other users…until now. Mojo for Mac (and Windows) allows you to connect to your friends’ iTunes libraries and help yourself to their songs to supplement your own library.

The first major thing about Mojo is to assert the fact that this is not meant for piracy. Mojo will not allow you to copy DRM-encrypted (most iTunes purchased) music, and is not intended to steal music that is not rightfully yours. However, in my situation for example, there are many songs that multiple family members would like to listen to, but up until now it hasn’t been particularly easy or effortless to get those songs.

Once Mojo is installed on the computers that will be sharing iTunes libraries, any other computers on the local network should show up in the Mojo buddy list. Additionally, you can add buddies by clicking the plus sign at the bottom of the buddy list. Initially, it was semi-confusing about how to set this up, as the settings for the user-created accounts were not set up during my initial installation and configuration. However, once I went into the preferences for the app, I found it easy to set up and create my own personal @deusty.com account name.

A simple double click on a buddy’s name will connect you to his or her iTunes library, as shown in the screenshot below. The look of the window is very simple, and pretty handy, with access included to playlists and searching built right into the window. Downloading songs from the window is as simple as clicking on the song that you want to download, and hitting the download button on the bottom of the window. Additionally, you can preview any of the songs by double clicking. The speed of the download and other information transferring depends upon the internet connection, and obviously transfers on the local network will be faster than those on the broad internet.

Additionally, Mojo will color code the songs in the library being browsed to help you maximize your time. Greyed out songs are the ones that Mojo has already found present in your iTunes library, Red denotes iTunes DRM’ed songs, and Green songs indicate playlists that you have subscribed to (in the paid version only). I found that I was able to download DRMed songs and play them without a problem because I have that iTunes account verified on my own MacBook Pro, but your mileage may vary.

Overally, Mojo is incredibly useful and makes the process of sharing iTunes music easier than it has ever been. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for an easy way to share music, and explore new music as well. Mojo is available from Deusty Software, in a free version that limits the buddy list, as well as a paid version with unlimited buddies for $10.95 and up (depending on how many computers you’ll be using the licenses on).

Disclaimer: MacApper does not endorse piracy in any shape or form, and is not liable for any legal issues that may arise from the use of this software.

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