I typically play music while I'm working on my Mac. I have the ability to keep iTunes open all the time and in the foreground (I have 3 monitors), however it still seems to always get covered up by another window. I can use the MiniPlayer, but I don't like it sitting on top of any of my windows and I can never seem to find a good spot for it to sit on my screen. There are a bunch of iTunes menu bar apps that allow you to see the current playing track, but they require you to first click on the menu bar icon. I wanted to be able to quickly just glance up to the menu bar without clicking on anything and see the current playing track.
After a bit of searching, I came across an old app called QuickTunes. It lives in your menu bar and simply displays the current playing track and artist. If you click on the menu, you can control iTunes functions like Play, Pause, Next, etc. From the menu you can also select "Play Another By This Artist", "Play Another In This CD", and "Play Another In This Genre". The app also has a floating window similar to the MiniPlayer, but not as useful or good looking (remember how old this app is).
After a couple weeks of use, it hasn't crashed on my Yosemite Mac and does exactly what I wanted it to do. System requirements listed on the site say iTunes 4.7+ and Mac OS 10.3+. So who knows if it will continue to work with new versions of OS X, but it's lasted this long so I'm hopeful.
Download QuickTunes for free
Today Apple release 10.9.3 update for Mavericks & iTunes 11.2
10.9.3 update:
Improves 4K display support on Mac Pro (Late 2013) and MacBook Pro with 15-inch Retina Display (Late 2013)
Adds the ability to sync contacts and calendars between a Mac and iOS device using a USB connection
Improves the reliability of VPN connections using IPsec
Resolves an issue that prevented Font Book from installing PostScript Type 1 fonts
Improves reliability of copying, editing and inspecting permissions of files on an SMB file server
Improves reliability of network home directories
Improves stability when installing configuration profiles
Improves login speed for users in Active Directory groups
Includes Safari 7.0.3
Available through Software Update, choose Apple menu () > Software Update to check for the latest Apple software using the Mac App Store, including this update.
iTunes 11.2
With iTunes 11.2, the application gains a new "Unplayed" tab in the Podcast section, listing content that a user has not listened to yet. The update also includes the ability to browse episodes that are available to download or stream in the "Feed" tab.
Further improvements for podcast listeners include the ability to automatically delete episodes once they have been listened to. Users an also save their favorite episodes so they can ensure they are saved on their computer.
The update also addresses an issue where iTunes might become unresponsive when updating recommended songs through Genius. It also is said to improve overall performance and stability, while Apple recommends that users have Podcasts for iOS 2.1 or later for syncing podcast episodes.
iTunes 11.2 is a free update available for both Mac and Windows PCs. It can be updated on OS X through the Mac App Store, while direct downloads are available from Apple's website.