I download mp3s fairly regularly with Safari (not what you think--a friend frequently composes guitar pieces and puts them on his web site for me to collect) and they NEVER automatically open in iTunes. I have things I download go to a Downloads folder I created at the root level of my hard drive (where both admin users will have access to the files), and UNchecked the box in Safari preferences to have safe files open automatically (because I consider that to be more secure).
Poking around just now I discovered that most, but not all, of these files are set to open in QuickTime Player rather than iTunes (he generally uses his Windows box to record, process, and upload his stuff). So I opened a folder with a batch of mp3s from various sources and discovered some are set to open in QuickTime, some with iTunes. Doing a little investigating I discovered that the difference is the metadata entry for "Kind"--those that open in QuickTime have a file Kind of "MP3 Audio" and those set to open in iTunes have a Kind of "MP3 Audio File" and, if you use GetInfo to change the default of which program to use, the Kind metadata entry for the file is changed. A Mac user receiving the file should get the file with the metadata entry intact, and so would have the same default program (QuickTime or iTunes) that you set. I'm afraid you would need to change the default before you send them. Although why your boss is so bent out of shape about it I don't know--I had never been concerned with the issue before, because I listen to the pieces with QuickLook or QuickTime Player, and if I like them I just drag 'n drop into iTunes.
Francine
Francine
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