Your Smart Playlist Ideas -- Post them Here

[Surgical Gloves]

Originally Posted by Code Monkey

Too much money and, particularly, too much time invested over the past six years tweaking my digital library "just so" to say, "eh, I'll just re-rip".

But, hey, it's your time

Just thinking about having to rate every single song in my library makes want to start screaming. To each his own but to me its very important to have properly rated and tagged media. Taking the time to do this is not the most fun thing but the reward of doing it is well worth it. But having to do it once is enough for me.

[siddlah]

Merging two of the default smart playlists; Top 10 Newly Added Tracks.

Match All:

Date Added is in last 2 weeks
Media Kind is Music
Genre is not Comedy
Play Count is Greater than 0
Playlist is Music (if using an iphone + 9.0.2; please fix this bug!)

Limit to 10 items selected by most often played
Match only checked
Live update


Any tweeks welcome.

Enjoy,
Siddlah

[NicoQB]

I make it a must to edit all the tags of the new tracks I put in itunes, especially "Genre"

Here's mine:

1. Playlist is "playlist having all the music for my ipod "
2. Genre contains "Folk"
3. Genre does not contain "Folk-Rock"
4. Genre does not contain "Folk Rock"
Note: Your mp3 tags must be quite precise and orderly - a truly tedious job it can be sometimes to edit them!

Result: Most songs in the playlist are only pure gentle acoustic folk songs. I use it mostly on shuffle on my dock alarm clock when I go to bed and I wake up.

Other smart playlist I use are: French (self explanatory), New Wave, Progressive, Indie...

I like to make use of smart playlist because I'm such a moody git. And Iron Maiden and Nick Drake really don't mix, despite the fact that I listen to both.

But I did this before I recently activated Genius. I do find Genius useful but it only creates smallish playlists.

[bryce87]

I was wondering if there is anyway to create smart playlist that randomly picks songs but only have said artists one or two times. I always get the same artists like 6 times in a row.

[nmajdan]

Originally Posted by bryce87

I was wondering if there is anyway to create smart playlist that randomly picks songs but only have said artists one or two times. I always get the same artists like 6 times in a row.

No, there is no way short of having many other playlists where you can limit by artist into another master playlist. this is a feature I've been wanting for years, but I don't expect it anytime soon.

[ScoobZ]

Since there is still no easy way to play "blocks" by an artist I want to set it up myself.

An example of my smartlist criteria:

Match ALL:
Playlist is MusicNoChristmas
Artist is A Fine Frenzy
Last Played is not in the last 3 months
Limit to 3 items selected by random
Live updating is on

In my library of over 26k songs I have many hundreds of artists. Duplicating this list, modifying the artist, and then renaming the list will be a tedious and time consuming effort. I'll tackle it little by little of course and will eventually get it done.

Is there a script for Windows that would automate this task for me?

[ScoobZ]

Originally Posted by ScoobZ

Since there is still no easy way to play "blocks" by an artist I want to set it up myself.

An example of my smartlist criteria:

Match ALL:
Playlist is MusicNoChristmas
Artist is A Fine Frenzy
Last Played is not in the last 3 months
Limit to 3 items selected by random
Live updating is on

In my library of over 26k songs I have many hundreds of artists. Duplicating this list, modifying the artist, and then renaming the list will be a tedious and time consuming effort. I'll tackle it little by little of course and will eventually get it done.

Is there a script for Windows that would automate this task for me?

Wait...I just realized this would be a collosal waste of my time as there is no way to shuffle artists within a playlist on an iPod or in iTunes.

I guess the programmers at Apple are too young to have enjoyed "block party weekends" on their favorite FM station as kids.

[yellowsquare]

Smart Playlists I use

*2010 [year is 2010]
*2009 [year is 2009]
*2008 [year is 2008]

These are nice when I just want to glance at the albums of a particular year without sorting all your music by year. obviously can be done for any year you like. i just started doing it in 2008 and have kept doing it since. it is fun to watch these playlists grow as the year progresses.

*Unplayed Music [playcount = 0]

Handy for seeing what hasn't been listened to ever. i sync this to my iPod so that when I add something new to iTunes it'll automatically add the music.

*Recently Played in the last 3 weeks [played in the last 3 weeks]

I think that attention should be given to how far back one considers recent to be. Some people don't listen to music all the time so recent might mean the last 1-3 months. I like 3 weeks because it provides a lot of variety (400-700 songs usually)

*Top 300 Most Played [limit to 300 songs selected by most often played]

Songs i've heard the most. I don't use this one that often but if i'm not in the mood for things i don't know well it is nice to throw on.

*Missing Info [Match any of the following: year = 0, Album = " ", Artist = " ", etc]

The idea behind this one is that any of your songs with missing information like no album info, no year, unnecessary comments, etc can be viewed and you can fix them and they will drop from the playlist. at first it is best to have a playlist for each missing item type but after most every song is corrected you can combine them so you don't have too many playlists sitting around.

Sometimes it is nice to to take a smart playlist you already have and add another random rule to spice it up. For example if you have a Recently Played playlist you could add "and time is between 4:30-7:00" or to the Recently Added playlist "year is not (current year)" for albums you've recently acquired that didn't come out this year.

I've noticed my favorite playlists are ones that I make myself. However I've made a lot of terrible playlists from just rushing thru them. The best way i've found to make a custom playlist is to come up with an idea for the playlist and really think about what you want it to be about. Add a few songs that you think will fit then leave it alone for a while. As time passes and you think something belongs in it then add it. Also I like playlists that are pretty long so i can turn on shuffle and listen to it randomly. Since I have a lot of songs on it all of them don't usually get played and it stays fresh. I have a nice playlist that includes a lot of songs with female vocals, crisp electronic instruments, light drums, high production and strong melodies. It has taken me about a month to make but it is something I'll keep around for a while.

A big killer of the smart playlist is the pack rat / senseless collector's approach to downloading and organizing music. This involves having a library with too much music in it. by too much i mean music that is never going to get listened to. I have 4600 songs in my library totally 14 Days, 10 Hours. Every song is listened to and many have 50+ listens. However I used to have a library of ~20,000 songs. It was created just for the sake of having a lot of music. Looking back it was a terrible way to go about a music library because i was never going to listen to that much music and never wanted to hear a lot of it. Trimming down a library (I usually trim by whole albums or everything but 1 song from an album) is a great way to increase the efficiency of a Smart Playlist. No matter the method of choosing a song by the sentience of a Smart Playlist, if i don't like the song I still don't want to listen to it.

I don't use the * rating system for two reasons. 1. I have too many songs to go through and rate. 2. songs grow on me and if i am giving it a rating or 1* then I am telling myself that the music isnt good and let's face it, if you tell yourself it sucks then you'll be inclined to listen to yourself. i've seen others use the system for other purposes like "1-5 stars based on how old does the song get if it is played often" or "1-5 for the following: 1 = instrumental, 2 = a cappella, 3 = mixed, 4 = vocals in a different language, 5 = live track". These last couple options are very tedious but they could offer the right person something interesting. Also the Grouping and Comments section are perhaps a better place to implement this system. The good thing about the rating system is that it can be done from an iPod on the go. So when you are waiting around you can rate the song. if you are at home there are usually better things to do.

A cool idea for a non-Smart Playlist is adding songs that have a single name for the title. for example i've done this and some of the songs include: "Anna", "Tristessa", "Isobel", "Kelly", "Kiara", "Derek",etc. Pretty cool to see "who" is in your iTunes.
-yellowsquare

[DPlum]

I use Smart Playlists to breakdown my collection of about 200 GB of music (25,000) songs. I’m what some folks on the forum would consider a packrat and an organization geek with an eclectic worldwide and time-broad set of musical tastes. What I’m looking for in a Smart Playlist is to create a set of music that works together in a physical setting that I create in my mind. This could be “Evening Porch Music”, “Pasta Music”, “BBQ in the Park” etc. I’ve broken my music down into 60 discreet genres, based on music type, era, energy level and region. I’ve used groupings and comments to further blend or break down some of these genres (eg. “A-List Reggae”).

My Smart Playlists are predominantly pairings of musical genres, groupings and artists. I add these constituent parts like adding spices to a meal. I’m continually tweeking these playlists to create the mood I’m looking for. Most are in process, but many have hardened into some great evolving playlists.

Here are a few challenges I have overcome (or am trying to).

Combining genres of different sizes gives you a lopsided playlist. If you take a rock genre of 6 gigs and combine it with a blues genre of 2 gigs, you’ll hear songs from the rock genre three times as often. This can be overcome by creating a utilitarian playlist of the rock genre and limiting it’s size to 2 gigs – chosen at random. I have created two “limited playlists” of many of my genres so that I can add them to my Smart Playlist recipes in differing proportions. When building your Smart Playlist you add the genres’ “limited playlist” instead of the genre itself. The limited list can also be tagged with a rule to not repeat songs with a single day, etc. These limited lists should be refreshed from time to time in order to rotate the songs from the genre through the limited playlist. You can do this by deleting all the contents. They will be instantly replenished with a new set.

I found that my Smart Playlists always started with the same track when shuffling on my iPod. This can wear out a good song. To deal with this I created a 3 second quiet mp3 and gave it a name, artist, album and genre title of A.A.A. This way it always comes up first and allows the second, music track, to come up at random.

I like to keep my albums whole, because sometimes I want to listen to a complete album. But often there are songs in an album that are less desirable or that don’t fit the genre where I’ve placed the album. I use the “Skip While Shuffling” feature to tag the songs that I don’t want in my mix. “Skip While Shuffling” has its problems. The tag tends not to be picked up by the iPod. To ensure that the song actually skips, I add a comment of Skip into the comment window and change the star rating to one. These added actions seem to give the weight needed behind the change to register with the iPod.

I use the star ratings to further guide the playlists by utilizing the “Play higher rated songs more often” option. I rate my music by the following rules:

5 star – used to tag my favorite high-energy songs
4 star – used to tag my favorite low-energy songs
3 star – used to tag the other songs in my favorite albums
2 star – used to tag the other songs in the other albums
1 star – used to tag skipped songs, this includes the songs in my live albums
0 star – used to tag songs from my iPod that I want to make changes to.

[McMenemy]

Okay, here's one I'd love some smarty pants to be able to work out for me :P

I want a smart playlists that contain the following artists and albums

Stone Sour - Come Whatever May
A7X - Waking The Fallen
A7X - Sounding The Seventh Trumpet
A7X - Avenged Sevenfold
A7X - Nightmare

Now, here's the trick. I want the playlist (which is set to 25 random songs) to, no matter what, keep all songs from Come Whatever May, and Nightmare, but for WTF, SS7T and AS, I would like them to drop off my list and reappear after a set timeframe.

So essentially, the two newer albums are the staple of the list, but the other albums are there to pad it out, and add the variety of different tracks.

Thanks in advance

[ScoobZ]

Originally Posted by McMenemy

Okay, here's one I'd love some smarty pants to be able to work out for me :P

I want a smart playlists that contain the following artists and albums

Stone Sour - Come Whatever May
A7X - Waking The Fallen
A7X - Sounding The Seventh Trumpet
A7X - Avenged Sevenfold
A7X - Nightmare

Now, here's the trick. I want the playlist (which is set to 25 random songs) to, no matter what, keep all songs from Come Whatever May, and Nightmare, but for WTF, SS7T and AS, I would like them to drop off my list and reappear after a set timeframe.

So essentially, the two newer albums are the staple of the list, but the other albums are there to pad it out, and add the variety of different tracks.

Thanks in advance

List 1: Match Any, Criteria 1 = Album is CWM, Criteria 2 = Album is Nightmare

List 2: Match Any, Criteria 1 = Album is WTF, Criteria 2 = Album is STST, Criteria 3 = Album is AS, Criteria 4 = Last Played is not in the last 7 days
Limit to 10 items selected by random
Select Live Updating

List 3: Match Any, Criteria 1 = Playlist is List 1, Criteria 2 = Playlist is List 2
Select Live Updating

List 3 is your goal. It will have all songs from the two albums you want permanently on the list plus 10 randomly selected songs from the other 3 albums that haven't been played in the last 7 days.

[Dday141]

Ah, I have alot of playlists in my account. I currently listen to alot of songs as I have a huge library, so my smart playlists sort them out from newest to latest. But sometimes I download old songs that I haven't heard before, so technically....its new as its new to me (thats all that matters ain't it?) haha. After I download a mixtape/album/single/ep, I listen to them. It first goes in this playlist:

Recently Added (Listening):

The first part makes sure that I listen AND rate any new songs in my library. If I listen to a song but I forget to rate it, it will still be there so I can rate it. If I already rate a song (heard it before) but it didn't play yet, then I can still listen to it. Thats pretty good for singles on albums that came out. I heard the singles so I rate them first but I like to listen to the entire album and now skip singles. The other options are for entire singles I download. Sometimes I get a clean version, instrumental, but I don't want to listen to those, so I just skip it. The other options down below is for a certain mixtape series I skip. I make an entire new playlist for that so please regard those.

If a song is good enough to where I would like to listen to it some more, then I add it to my Top Songs playlist. It's just a custom playlist. There is probably over 1,500 songs in that playlist though that ranges from lots of genres/albums/etc.

Most of the times I want to listen to the newer songs in playlist, instead of ranging them from time, I range them by plays. I realized that sometimes I play songs more than others, and the other songs, I still want to listen to them but they get overlooked. So it really best to have them range by play. Now I have about 6 or 8 different playlists just for this. I call them Top Songs (New) "1-6". Top Songs (New) 1 playlist range from plays of 0 - 19. Top Songs (New) 2 range from plays 20 - 49. Top Songs (New) 3 range from plays 50 - 69. Top Songs (New) 4 range from plays 70 - 99. And I'm sure you can get where to go from there. It's also a proud feeling to watch one song go from one playlist to the next. And if I want to listen to songs in which I know I like, then I go higher up the list. The more plays, the more I like em! (I do take songs out after a while if they get stale). The only way to listen to these playlists....is SHUFFLED BABY! Also limit each one to 100, but save the last for unlimited amount of songs. This way one playlist isn't a huge amount of songs, and everyone can get a fair listen.

[ralliart122010]

Hi fellows. I hope someone can help me tweak my smart playlist but first, let me elaborate on my smart playlists:













P.S. I also have 2 more smart playlists similar to the 1 above; they're called "3*" & "2*" respectively with slightly tweaked "Last Played is not" criteria.



This one simply "groups" 2* to 5* together.





& this is the one that I sync to my iPod. At first it seems fine, but here's the problem:

Because of the rule, "Limit to 8GB selected by random" on the master list, "sync_to_iDevice", I cannot guarantee that some songs (any amount) from my sub-list, "latest_additions" will be sync-ed to my iPod. I do not mind whether at any time if none or too much songs from rarely_heard, second_chances, rated_already (which composes of the 2* to 5*) appear on my master list (hence being sync-ed to iPod), BUT I want some songs, any amount (maybe 100 songs, maybe 100MB, etc) from "latest_additions" to definitely be sync-ed to my iPod at any time. Because of that rule, "Limit to 8GB selected by random" on the master list, "sync_to_iDevice", this requirement may or may not happen (I noticed because I couldn't find any songs that I added to my library recently, being sync-ed to my iPod). Is there anyway I can tweak my lists to definitely/always get some of the songs I added lately, on my iPod at any time?

Thanks in advance.

[rockmyplimsoul]

I would "shape" the content of what you sync by moving the size limitations down one layer, before you sum them in the "sync_to_iDevice" playlist. This way you can control the relative amounts of unrated, rated, and latest additions that get sync'd to the iPod. Of course, that means you'll have to watch the overall size if your goal is to keep everything under 8GB, but I think you can do the math

[ralliart122010]

Originally Posted by rockmyplimsoul

...by moving the size limitations down one layer, before you sum them in the "sync_to_iDevice" playlist...

Thanx rockmyplimsoul, that was how a lot of other online blogs/guides compile their "master" list, & it will guarantee that I've, for e.g. 400MB of latest_additions, 400MB of 5*, 400MB of rarely_heard that gets sync-ed into my iPod.

However, I was looking for a more rule-based (not individual, explicit size-based) solution. Furthermore, I wish to re-iterate, I do not mind any amount (be it 0, or a few, or too much) songs from the rated_already collection, rarely_heard, second_chances to exist on my iPod, but I don't wanna miss out on my latest_additions (which currently, may or may not be sync-ed). I welcome further (rule-based) suggestions, but still, thank you rockmyplimsoul.