With the continuing popularity of iPod-style music players, many of us use iTunes or some similar housekeeping software to organise music.

Magix MP3 Maker 12 is aimed at those who require more flexibility and want to catalogue other forms of content, such as internet radio.

At first sight, the main screen of the program looks complex, but after a couple of minutes, you realise that it’s clearly delineated into various areas.

Below the menu bar lie big icons that, when clicked, switch between functions such as viewing a music collection, editing individual tracks, disc-burning and viewing videos. There's a wide selection of new music visualiser effects too.

Magix MP3 Maker 12 is divided into three sections, showing a media database (or file browser), a recording scheduler and a panel that can display details of a Podcast or internet radio station. At the bottom of the screen are a graphic equaliser, transport controls, a volume meter and a clock showing the remaining space on a connected media player or blank disc.

MP3 Maker 12 will scan a PC and winkle out all media tracks in any of the major digital music formats; WAV, WMA, OGG, AAC and, of course, mp3s. Once a collection has been created, it can be searched for duplicates. Metadata (also known as ID3 tags), such as artist, track and album names can be rationalised and can be picked up when searching for music.

Dance music fans will also like the auto DJ function, which matches tempos between tracks, merging them without disturbing the underlying beat.

More than that, MP3 Maker 12 can playback a huge range of internet radio stations. It displays them with useful information, such as streamed sound quality. Another nice feature is the ability to record internet radio shows to a hard disk, either manually or by scheduling.

In all, this a very well-featured piece of music software, at a keen price.

Vista compatible: Yes