Thanks to the iPod, iTunes is among the most popular music programs. Here are five great ways to make iTunes more useful:

BETTER PLAYLISTS

Creating iTunes playlists is easy. Click the "+" button at the bottom of the window. Name your playlist. Add songs by dragging and dropping them to the playlist name.

You can also create playlists of individual albums. Start by clicking View, then Show Browser from the music window. Drag an album from the list to the playlist section in the Source list.

But there's an easier way to make playlists. The Genius feature creates playlists automatically. Enable the feature by clicking Genius in the Source list.

Choose a song on which to base your playlist. Right-click it and select Start Genius. You'll get a playlist of similar songs!

Playlists may quickly get out of control. So organize them using folders. Click File, then New Playlist Folder. Drag related playlists into the folder.

SHARE TUNES

You may want to share your music over your network. To enable sharing, click Edit, then Preferences. On the sharing tab, select "Share my library on my local network." Opt to share the entire library or select playlists. Click OK.

To listen on another computer, click Edit, then Preferences. Select "Look for shared libraries" on the sharing tab. Click OK. Shared libraries appear in the Source list.

ORGANIZE LIBRARY

A disorganized iTunes library is a real annoyance. Fortunately, you can spruce it up easily.

First, remove duplicate songs. The Show Duplicates feature will help. Click View, then Show Duplicates. You'll see a list of duplicates.

Delete duplicates by right-clicking and selecting Delete. Confirm the deletion. Then, specify whether to remove the song from the hard drive.

Exercise caution, though! Show Duplicates can't differentiate between different versions of songs. For example, it can't distinguish between live and studio versions.

Next, add album artwork. This will improve Cover Flow on both your iPod and in iTunes. To get album artwork, click Advanced, then Get Album Artwork; iTunes scans your library and downloads missing artwork.

Although iTunes only provides artwork for albums it sells, you can add artwork manually. Right-click a song and select Get Info. Drag the artwork from your computer to the Artwork tab. Click OK.

GET PODCASTS

Spice up your listening with podcasts. You can download lectures and radio shows as podcasts from the iTunes store. In addition to free podcasts, the store hosts paid podcasts, including my daily and weekend national radio show (www.komando.com/kimsclub).

To manage podcasts, click Podcasts in the Source list. Click the arrow beside a podcast name to see available episodes. Click Get to download an episode. Or click Get All. Delete podcast episodes or series by right-clicking and selecting Delete.

By the way, you don't need an iPod to listen to podcasts. You can listen on any MP3 player or on your PC or Mac.

ADD LYRICS

Can't resist singing along to your music? Make sure you know the lyrics.

You can add lyrics to AAC and MP3 files in iTunes. Right-click the file in the library and select Get Info. On the Lyrics tab, enter the lyrics. Click OK.

You can view the lyrics on your computer and most iPods. On your computer, right-click the song and select Get Info. Then open the Lyrics tab.

Steps for viewing lyrics on your iPod vary. Click the center button several times to access the lyrics screen. The number of clicks varies based on whether you have album artwork. On the iPod Touch or iPhone, simply tap the cover art on the Now Playing screen.