by John | Apr 29, 2026 | iTunes, Spotify
This makes me happy! During Sunday night's LIVE iTunes training one of the participants had what can only be described as an Aha! Moment, where she learned something that made her investment in time worth every minute.
Over the last 3 1/2 years I've answered hundreds of technical questions from Instructors. I've learned that if one Instructor has a question there are probably a bunch of you with the same frustration who would enjoy learning the answer.
The question was; “how do I restore the correct order of a playlist in iTunes if I have clicked on one of the column headers?”
I made this short video to show how to solve this 🙂
The next training date is January 8th where we will be learning Spotify Premimum for iPhones and Android devices. You can join the notification email list here.
Originally posted 2011-12-20 05:36:30.
by Dennis Mellon | Apr 20, 2026 | Dennis Mellon, Instructor Tech Help, iTunes, iTunes & Spotify Training, Spotify
Have you been having a hard time figuring out how to download media from the ICI/Pro website?
Try following these directions and let me know if it helps:
To download media to a Mac:
- Right Click on the blue underlined link
- Select “Download Linked File As”
- Select a download location
- Once file is completely downloaded, find it in the location you selected
- Drag the file into your iTunes or Spotify library OR
- Right Click on the file and Select “Open With”
- From the drop down menu select “iTunes” or “Spotify”
- File should begin playing and is now part of your iTunes or Spotify library
To download media to a PC:
- Right Click on the blue underlined link
- Select “Save Link As”
- Select a download location
- Once file is completely downloaded, find it in the location you selected
- Drag the file into your iTunes or Spotify library OR
- Right Click on the file and Select “Open With”
- From the drop down menu select “iTunes” or “Spotify”
- File should begin playing and is now part of your iTunes or Spotify library
Click here to watch a video.
I hope this helps.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Originally posted 2015-07-17 18:22:05.
by Joey Stabile | Apr 11, 2026 | Audio PROfiles, Bonus Materials, Instructor Tech Help, Instructor Training, iTunes, KEEP IT FUN, Motivation, PRO Podcasts, PRO/Playlists, Spotify
This week features the 2018 Holiday ride from Joey. The ride is primarily focused towards strength, but there is a fair mix of cadence work. Good luck and have fun. Joey
Get all of the ride details HERE.
Get all of the ride details HERE.
Joey's “2018 Holiday Ride” Playlist
1: “Wizards in Winter (Instrumental)”, Trans-Siberian Orchestra (The Lost Christmas Eve)
2: “Mmm Yeah (feat. Pitbull)”, Austin Mahone (The Secret)
3: “Palladio”, Escala (Escala)
4: “A Mad Russian's Christmas (Instrumental)”, Trans-Siberian Orchestra (The Christmas Trilogy)
5: “Switch”, Don Diablo (Switch – Single)
6: “Drop That Low (when I Dip)”, Tujamo (Spinnin Records Best of Dance 2016, Vol. 1)
7: “Carol of the Bells”, Pentatonix (PTXmas (Deluxe Edition))
8: “Santa's Lost His Mojo”, Jeremy Lister (Gift Wrapped – 20 Songs That Keep On Giving!)
9: “Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (Live at C.W. Post College, Greenvale, NY – December 1975)”, Bruce Springsteen (Christmas Hits)
10: “Jingle Bells (feat. Henry Rollins)”, William Shatner (Shatner Claus)
11: “In the Cold, Cold Night”, Tracey Thorn (Tinsel and Lights)
12: “Man Like That”, Gin Wigmore (Gravel & Wine)
13: “What Christmas Means To Me”, 98° (Let It Snow)
14: “You're a Mean One, Mister Grinch”, Famous for a Century (Christmas – Single)
15: “Christmas In Hollis (Bonus Track)”, Run-DMC (Tougher Than Leather)
16: “Deck the Halls”, R.E.M. (Gift Wrapped – 20 Songs That Keep On Giving!)
17: “Christmas / Sarajevo 12/24 (Instrumental)”, Trans-Siberian Orchestra (Christmas Eve and Other Stories)
18: “Feliz Navidad”, Unspoken (Christmas: Joy To the World)
19: “My Dear Acquaintance (A Happy New Year) [Non-Album Track]”, Regina Spektor (My Dear Acquaintance (A Happy New Year) – Single)
Originally posted 2018-12-30 08:49:38.
by John | Mar 27, 2026 | Best Practices, Master Instructor Blog, Spotify
I started to share this over at pedal-on.com and quickly realized that this is another Best Practice for Indoor Cycling Instructors.
Suggestion to anyone reading this who is planning to use Spotify in class.
A cycling coach / friend of mine taught me that race day is never a good day to try something new.
The mark of a Rookie is someone who changes his seat height the night before a big event, or slams the latest energy drink on the way to the race – only to find the new saddle height feels weird and uncomfortable… and the stimulants have your heart (and mind) racing so fast you're worried about what effect all of these changes will have on the race you've trained months for that you're an emotional wreck as you roll to the line and are off the back before the end of the 1st lap.
Experiment during your training and only bring what's familiar to the starting line. Same is true with using Spotify in your class. I've lost track of how many calls and emails I have gotten that begin with; the first time I tried to use Spotify in my class ____________________ happened. It worked perfectly at home… I have no idea why it didn't __________.
Show your professionalism by doing a dry run at your studio before you attempt to use Spotify to deliver your class music.
Teach a whole class by yourself and experiment with your new toy;
- Will it play with Air Plane Mode turned on?
- Can you find your playlist if it's buried in a folder?
- Is the cross fade working correctly?
- Hit a few of the wrong buttons… do you know how to get back?
- Accidentally tap the shuffle (no, just tapping it again won't return it to ordered play) … can you quickly turn shuffle off?
- Get sweaty and try to scroll through the playlist – can you without inadvertently changing tracks?
- Have some sweat drip on the screen – will you resist the temptation to wipe it off with your towel = changing songs? or learn that you can dab the screen without messing everything up?
- Do your local files play when the should?
I'm sure this is only a partial list of the potential problems (feel free to add your own) you could suddenly be faced with, if you run into class without taking the time to become proficient with Spotify.
Originally posted 2013-02-02 12:27:43.
by John | Jul 30, 2021 | iTunes & Spotify Training, Spotify
A member called to my attention that per their Terms and Conditions, Spotify is only permitted for personal use.
Meaning that you agree not to use it in commercial applications.
“That's not good” I thought and I immediately went to read what he was referring to. Here's the T&C page that includes this from Spotify:
3. Grant of license
You are granted a limited, non-exclusive, revocable license to make personal non-commercial use of the Spotify Software Application (including a right to download said application) and the Spotify Service and to receive by stream (and, where you have purchased the Premium Service or the Mobile Service, by conditional download), and in the case of the purchase of A-La Carte Downloads or Download Bundles, to receive Permanent Downloads of the media content made available through the Spotify Service in your home country. You do not have a right to transfer or sublicense your rights under this Agreement.
Before I got too excited, I decided to check what other Terms and Conditions I have agreed to – who reads those things anyway? It turns out that every music service or music software I use is restricted to Personal Use Only. Let's go down the list:
- iTunes has a similar restriction – (i) You shall be authorized to use iTunes Products only for personal, noncommercial use.
- Windows Media Player from Microsoft – Unless otherwise specified, the Services are for your personal and non-commercial use.
- My copy of MixMeister Express (no link) says: You may only use the MixMeister Software for Your private, non-commercial use.
So am I screwed? Do I need to learn how to perform as a one-man-band?
No
Are you prevented from using Spotify, iTunes, Windows Media Player or MixMeister to produce and deliver music for your class tomorrow?
I'm not an Attorney, so that's going to be your choice. I certainly don't want to be advocating you do something that's potentially in conflict with something you have agreed not to do… but I personally don't see this as comparable with using music that's been illegally downloaded in some fashion. Actually just the opposite 🙂
You've heard me state on this recent Podcast about music licensing that; as a content creator, I'm very much against the distribution of copyrighted materials without due compensation given to the creators.
My feeling is that as long as the studio is properly licensed for playing music, this won't be seen as much of an issue. Music labels are already dealing with the enormous amount of illegal file sharing that happens every day. iTunes changed how many people acquired music by creating a service that's so convenient (and secure) that millions of people would rather pay a $0.99 than waste their time going elsewhere.
Like iTunes, I believe that Spotify can actually reduce the amount of sharing that ends in no revenue for the record labels by offering a convenient method of finding and accessing music.
That said, I want to offer this disclaimer: Links to Spotify playlists you find here are intended for your personal use only.
What do you think about this?
Originally posted 2011-08-22 05:57:40.
by John | Jun 21, 2021 | Master Instructor Blog, Spotify
I'm a big Shazamer (not sure if that's a real word) cause I'm constantly Shazaming music I hear throughout my day. Watching TV, in the car, during other Instructor's class – pretty much anywhere. I've even looked into finding a way to create a “hot button” on my iPhone so I could quicken the process of having Shazam start listening with just a single action. I don't use Siri and would love to be able to just press and hold the “Home” button and have it launch Shazam.
But all of this Shazaming created some frustration for me. Once Shazam has identified a track, I still needed to type the name / artist into Spotify search to listen to it or add it to my Future to use playlist.
So I consulted the all-knowing Google and found that Shazam Encore, the premium version of Shazam, offers the option to open a track in Spotify!
Encore has the option to purchase the App for a year ($4.99) or lifetime ($6.99) – I opted for one year plan but that link takes you to the lifetime page – scroll down for options.
Once you have updated to Encore here's how to get a tagged track into Spotify:
- Start by creating a special playlist in Spotify for your Shazamed tracks so you have a place for them.
- Shazam a song.
- Scroll down to see the Spotify option and select it.
- Spotify will open in search, so it may gave you multiple choices – Shazam isn't telling Spotify the exact song, just the track name.
- To the right of the track name is a circle with ***
- Select it and then Add to Playlist > choose your playlist 🙂
There are other advantages to Encore:
- No more advertising
- It appears to run quicker / answers come much faster – I'm willing to bet Shazam purposely delays it's response so the advertisements are displayed longer.
Originally posted 2013-03-12 08:28:52.
