Christmas Smart Playlist

Hi,
I have an album of 15 songs, 5 of which are Christmas songs.
I've created a Smart Playlist called Holiday to gater up all my Christmas songs and music.
I can see only two ways of getting those 5 songs onto my playlist:-
1) change the genre of the 5 to Holiday (thus splitting the album in the iTunes window)
2) create a new iTunes rule for songs "containing" the Holiday genre and rename the genre "Vocal/Holiday" (thus not only splitting the album again, but creating a new genre thumbnail)
Is there any way of getting those 5 songs into the smart playlist without splitting the album?
Also, is there any way that I can call the genre Christmas (instead of Holiday) and keep that Holiday genre thumbnail?
regards

Similar issue, can anyone get their heads around this
I have a smart playlist for my Christmas music. Matching "any" of the following rules
Name contains Christmas
Name contains Xmas
Artist contains Christmas
Album contain Christmas
Album contains Xmas
It's works okay but of course this covers all media types, so it's pulling in a couple of Christmas films ,TV programs and videos. To resolve I added to the matching criteria, Media is Music. I expected this to do the job except adding the media type caused it to ignore the other matching criteria and pulled in all the music in my library, not just the Christmas stuff.
I tried building the smartlist again, starting with the media type, but still doesn't work.
Lot's of head scratching, but no solution so far.
Thoughts anyone? Thanks, Dan.

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Smart playlists no longer live update

I wrote in about this once before but got no solution. I use a smart playlist on my ipod touch to give me only podcasts with less than 1 play, so that I only get the new ones. When I got the ipod for Christmas, and until about late January it was working fine. All of the sudden it stopped live updating, and now only does it when I sync. This really ***** because I listen to about 25 podcasts a week, so it can be very confusing as to which I've heard and which I haven't. Is there any solution for this? I've tried using podcast = true and genre = podcast, but neither will smart update. As I said it worked fine previously, so it's not that podcast = true is completely broken, as I've heard it said elsewhere.
Any help much appreciated.

Sorry about that, I must have misunderstood.
This is the situation in detail.
When it worked:
A podcast would download. It would instantly appear in my smart playlist labeled "podcasts".
The playlist has the rules "podcast = true" and "playcount = less than 1".
I would sync my ipod.
I unplug the ipod.
When I listened to a podcast on my ipod completely (until the very end), the podcast would be removed from the smart playlist immediately, even though my ipod wasn't plugged in.
Now:
A podcast downloads. It appears instantly in my smart playlist.
I sync my ipod, and it appears in the smart playlist there too.
I unplug the ipod.
I listen to a podcast (every second of it) through the playlist. When the podcast is over, that podcast remains in my playlist, despite having a playcount greater than 1.
When I listen to podcasts on my computer directly via the smart playlist, it IS live updated. That is to say that when the podcast ends it is immediately removed from the playlist. That's what I want to happen on the ipod when it isn't connected to my computer, just like it used to.

Best way to handle Christmas music - Playlist or separate Library?

Anyone have a suggestion about the "best" way to handle Christmas music?
After reading the article below I'm tempted to create a new library for Christmas music... that way I can keep it on an external drive or even DVD.
http://www.allthingsmarked.com/2006/09/13/howto-manage-multiple-libraries-in-itu nes-7/

My solution to this is to add the tag "Xmas" to the "Grouping" field of each Christmas song.
This little tag stays tucked away out of sight until Christmastime. Then, I create a new Smart Playlist where Grouping contains "Xmas." Voila.
The Grouping field can be useful for non-genre distinctions you want to add to your music, likesay "live" or "remix" or "cover."

Possible to exclude double songs in smart playlist?

I made a smart playlist based on a category. However the list contains a lot of times the same song. Is it possible to automatically exclude doubles that will be added by itself during time?
André

I have about 600 songs that I have put in the genre of "chrismas" I have also rated them. I created a smart playlist in iTunes for 4 stars and up tunes within the christmas genre. From that in iTunes I get about 500 songs in that smart playlist (I like christmas songs). I sync it with the iPod. When I go to that smart playlist I get about 166 songs not the 500 that shows up in my iTunes.
Now I did discover one more thing today. I like to play my playlists in shuffle song mode. That is where I see this problem. Well today I turned that off and.... the 500 songs are shown ( what I mean by this is when a tune is playing you get the message that this is " 1 of 500. Same playlist in shuffle mode I get "1 of 166"

Smart playlists - help!

Hi Everyone I have a few smart playlist questions. This is a bit long so bear with me.
1. Lets say there is an artist Joe Smith. Joe used to record as Joey Smith. Joe also recorded a Christmas album. How do I create a playlist that includes Joe, Joey, no Christmas songs and with that cridera use the option play songs not played in 1 day?
2. My next question which is somewhat similar - can I do the above with two or more artist on one smart playlist?
3. With the above two questions, tHe only option I could think of was to create various smart playlists and a third one merging both together. Now if I do that will that cause problems? For example if I say on each playlist play songs that haven't been played in 1 day, then I do the same thing on the third playlist will that cause "wires to cross" and I'll end up with nothing in the playlist?
4. Last but not least... is there a way to just add one particular song to a smart playlist? I could not figure out how to do it. I could only find albums.
It seems like when I say match all criteria with these questions I can solve one issue another one arrises. Any help would be appreciated. I am new to using smart playlists, ipods in general (just bought mine a few months ago) and am somewhat lost in the process. Thanks for your help, Christina

1. You have to use multiple playlists like you mentione in your #3. This is becuase smart playlists can "match all" or "match any", but can't use "match x OR y".
Genre is not Holiday
Last played is not in the last 1 days
2. Yes
3. Not a problem, I've done it....but sometimes I make mistakes and have to tweak the various playlists.
4. Name is what iTunes uses for track name.

Possible bug with iTunes 11 ?? (with Smart Playlists)

Hi folks
New to Apple Support, but after upgrading to iTunes 11 earlier today (on my Mac Mini) I've discovered a potential bug / difference in the way it operates compared to earlier versions. Can someone else try something similar and see if they get the same result - I think I read somewhere that v11 is not available on Windows yet, so I cant compare what happens there
I've imported all our CD's into iTunes, and we've set up several Smart Playlists (SP). Using the Rating setting for the songs, we can break them up into groups, eg
Rating 0 = not yet processed
Rating 1 = not interested in listening to again
Rating 2 = kids songs (for our children)
Rating 3 = christmas songs
Rating 4 = songs i like, but my wife probably wouldnt
Rating 5 = songs we both like - good for background music etc
Using Home Sharing to our iPad's rocks !!
Now, onto the bug.
Using the SP that has just songs with Rating 0, I could play any song, set the Rating to whatever, and naturally once set, that disappears from the SP
In all earlier versions of iTunes, playback would continue with the next song, so I could set that Rating, etc etc. Worked really well to churn through a chunk of songs in say 15 minute blocks
With iTunes v11, playback stops as soon as I set the Rating.
How can you help ?????????? Set up a smart playlist with whatever criteria you like - make sure you have a number of songs returned and ensure Live Updating is set, have a song playing, and make that song no longer valid for that SP. Anyone doing this in earlier versions of iTunes should have the next song begin, and if this is a bug, then those using iTunes 11 will have playback stop
Sorry for the long post, but in order to determine a potential bug, you need to describe the situation and how to test it.
Thanks for reading
PS I'm on a 2010 Mac Mini with OSX v10.7.x (whatever the current release of that is) and just upgraded to iTunes 11

Soo, maybe it isnt possible bug, but the way Apple have changed iTunes when going to v11. Stooopid
Anyway, found this link about downgrading to an earlier version. I've just completed it and found one or two "errors" in the method, which I'll detail below
http://www.emacconsulting.com/apple/itunes/downgrade-itunes-11-to-itunes-10-7/
In the latter part of the instructions
11) Open your iTunes Music Folder.
If you never moved your iTunes folder it’s located here:
Your HD/Your User/Music/iTunes
Or go to the Finder type: Command + Shift + G
Paste this into the the dialog: ~/Music/iTunes
If you moved it to another hard drive, you will know where to locate your iTunes folder.
12) Open the “Previous iTunes Libraries” folder.
13) Find the most recent copy of the “iTunes Library 2012-xx-xx.itl” file.
Normally it will the last file at the bottom of the list.
14) Drag a copy of the file into the iTunes folder.
15) Delete the “iTunes Library” file.
16) Change the name of the “iTunes Library 2012-xx-xx.itl” to ”iTunes Library” with no .itl extension.
In #11, I simply went to "My HD"/Users/"My User"/Music/iTunes
Copied the latest .itl and moved it up a directory level
The old file in #15 is called "iTunes Library.itl" - which I renamed, and renamed the copied version back to "iTunes Library.itl" = though I do have extensions showing, some people may not and hence wont see the .itl
Anyway all is fixed in my world, and when I launched v10.7, it asked me if I wanted to upgrade to v11 - I said No and not to prompt me again. Playcount issue is resulved, as is changing SmartList criteria with playback continuing
Apple - please correct these bugs before releasing any new versions of iTunes... you've made a very large number of people unhappy

How to make a Smart playlist that plays holiday music if in a certain month

I'm trying to make a smart playlist with the ability to update with holiday songs playing when it's their season. Genre=holiday or Christmas if month=12 or December and genre=Halloween if month=10 or October. Can it be scripted?

jescis wrote:
I'm trying to make a smart playlist with the ability to update with holiday songs playing when it's their season. Genre=holiday or Christmas if month=12 or December and genre=Halloween if month=10 or October. Can it be scripted?
Sure but its just as easy to select the playlist then click Play when you want.
Here's something to play with;
set current_month to month of (current date)
get current_month
tell application "iTunes"
          if current_month = "December" then
                    set play_list to "Christmas" -- Change to your Christmas playlist name
          else if current_month = "October" then
                    set play_list to "Halloween" -- Change to your Halloween playlist name
          else if current_month = "January" then
                    set play_list to "New Year" -- Change to your New Year's playlist name
          else
                    set play_list to "Music" -- Play your Music playlist
          end if
          get play_list
play user playlist play_list
end tell

I need a COMPLETE tutorial on how to make a smart playlist with 'conditions'

Ok, I have read discussions in the Support Communities, looked on iTunes Help and I think my brain is going to explode. I need a simple (for dummies) tutorial on how to create a smart playlist with 'conditions' and Live Updating. For example: instead of going through my Library music list and unchecking all my Christmas music and all my Comedy stuff so it won't play year round and at innapropriate times and having to skip them manually when playing on my ipod touch or my iphone4 in my car or through headphones or home sharing and using my AppleTV.
Also, if my comedy is individually all unchecked (in my iTunes Library), and I have a regular playlist in my ipod and one in my iphone (titled Comedy), when I go to the playlist list in my ipod or phone (when not connected to my Mac), and select shuffle: will that playlist play all the way through even though they are all unchecked?
AND, if I have 'sync only checked songs and video' box UNCHECKED in my summary page for a device what exactly does that do? Or more precisely, WHY would I want or not want that box to be checked?
I really hope someone can help me as I am a complete idiot when it comes to understanding long explanations.

katinak67 wrote:
AND, if I have 'sync only checked songs and video' box UNCHECKED in my summary page for a device what exactly does that do? Or more precisely, WHY would I want or not want that box to be checked?
If the box is unchecked, it won't do anything. It will sync everything.
If it is checked, songs that are unchecked will nto get sync'd to the iPod.
katinak67 wrote:
For example: instead of going through my Library music list and unchecking all my Christmas music and all my Comedy stuff so it won't play year round and at innapropriate times and having to skip them manually when playing on my ipod touch or my iphone4 in my car or through headphones or home sharing and using my AppleTV.
Select all the Christmas stuff, right click - get info.
Set the sure the Genre is Christmas.
Go to the Info tab and set Skip when Shuffling to Yes.
Do the same for Comedy.
Create a new smart playlist (named My Music or something similar).
Match all rules;
Genre is not Christmas.
Genre is not Comedy.
Play this playlist on the iPod/iTunes to listen to everything except Christmas & Comedy.
Or if you have Shuffle turned on, just listen to anything and Christmas & Comedy will get skipped.
Also, if my comedy is individually all unchecked (in my iTunes Library), and I have a regular playlist in my ipod and one in my iphone (titled Comedy), when I go to the playlist list in my ipod or phone (when not connected to my Mac), and select shuffle: will that playlist play all the way through even though they are all unchecked?
It depends.
In iTunes, unchecked items will get skipped.
If unchecekd items get sync'd to the iPod (you do NOT have Sync only cheked items ticked), they will play unless you have them set to Skip when shuffling.

Is there a way to make a smart "playlist" of specific books in my iTunes library, and copy ONLY THOSE books to an iOS device? I own an iPad and an iPhone but I want different books on different devices.

Is there a way to make a smart "playlist" of specific books in my iTunes library, and copy ONLY THOSE books to an iOS device? I own an iPad and an iPhone but I want different books on each different device. When I've tried this, the iOS devices don't seem to respond.

There is no playlist for iBooks, butther eis nothing to preent you from choosing to download specific titles from itunes, or syncing just specific titles to an individual device.

IPod no longer updates smart playlists after upgrade to 1.3

After upgrading my 5th Gen 30GB iPod to 1.3 I noticed immediately that the smart playlists on my iPod aren't updating any longer. Until 3 days ago my iPod had firmware version 1.2.1 and all smart playlists worked as expected.
I have many smart playlists that I have been happily using everyday for the past 2 years to play only new podcasts, shuffle my favorite tunes based on when they have been played last, and move songs in and out of My Top rated tunes based on their ratings. These no longer work on my iPod, but when I sync with iTunes they update fine. I didn't make any changes to my smart playlists before or immediately after upgrading, at least until I noticed the problem.
For the last couple of days since upgrading I have tried deleting all my smart playlists and recreating them, that didn't help. I have also tried restoring my iPod, which also didn't help. I have also tried creating a very basic smart playlist i.e.
Match all of the following rules - checked
Rating is ***
Live updating - checked
Sync'd that to my iPod and started playing a tune and changed it's rating to 5 stars. I then entered a static playlist, played a song from that and when it was done entered the new 5 star rating smart playlist and it wasn't updated.
I'm don't know what else to try, I've repeated the same test as above on my wife's 2nd Gen nano and it worked as expected. Has anyone else noticed smart playlists failing to update since the upgrade? I have searched here and on google, but only found reference to much older firmwares.

I'm having the same problem, once I've listened to a song in my 0 plays list, go out to a new menu, then back in, all the songs that have been played are still there, when a few weeks ago they were taken off and only unplayed songs were still there. Now if I switch to another playlist and back, I have to scroll all the way back to the point I was when I changed which didn't happen earlier.

Multiple Artist, Genre... Separator (Semi-Colon) instead of Smart Playlists

In my opinion, one of the greatest features of ID3 tags is the ability to use semi-colons to differentiate between multiple artists, genres, albums, etc... for any given field. This feature has been available since ID3 tags for MP3's were first implemented over a decade ago.
With Windows Media Player 10, it's database was finally able to parse the information separated by semi-colons correctly. What this means is that if I have a song like "Picture" by Sheryl Crow and Kid Rock, in the ID3 tag, I type "Sheryl Crow; Kid Rock", and in WMP, if I click on Artist | Sheryl Crow, "Picture" appears. And if I click on Artist | Kid Rock, "Picture" appears. In fact, when I rip songs using WMP, it places semi-colons in numerous ID3 fields from the album description.
In iTunes, however, when I import a song with a semi-colon in an ID3 tag field, the database reads the artist as "Sheryl Crow; Kid Rock", or essentially, it treats "Sheryl Crow; Kid Rock" as a THIRD artist. The same is true if I have a song that I feel crosses two genres--like "Picture". In WMP, if I put in the Genre field "Pop; Country", when I choose Genres | Pop, "Picture" appears, and when I choose Genres | Country, "Picture" appears.
Does anyone know if a bug fix for this is in the works for iTunes? It seems Apple and iTunes have been trying to push Smart Playlists for this kind of organization, but that's the poor man's way of organizing songs and not nearly as efficient. I don't want to have to create Smart Playlist for all songs with "Sheryl Crow" in the artist field. It should be inherent based on the semi-colon.
Does anyone know if anything smarter than Smart Playlists is in the works that matches the intuitiveness of Windows Media Player's database?
Thanks,
Bill

Whereas in WMP & the ID3 spec. you would use a semi-colon to separate items you will find that iTunes & the Music store use a slash instead. However as you so rightly say iTunes takes the information and construes a new artist entity rather than two artists connected to the same track. (WMP might also respond to slash - I recall AC/DC always presenting issues so they exist as AC-DC in my library.)
If you'd like to make feature request go to: iTunes Feedback.
Working on the assumption that such ideas are unlikely to implemented any time soon however you might like to see my post on Grouping Tracks Into Albums which covers workarounds for this & other quirks.
tt2

ITunes 6.0.1.3 smart playlist and rating problem

I noticed my iPod playlists don't update live anymore, so I checked their settings in iTunes and found that, for some reason, there are no stars listed in the smart playlist.
I deleted them all and tried to start fresh. I click File > New Smart Playlist. In the first combo box I choose "My Rating", in the second combo box I choose "is", and in the third field, I can't do anything--not even click to set a rating. It's just blank.
Does anyone have any idea what is going on?

Okay, apparently the stars are still there, I just can't see them. If I click where the 5th star should be, then it adds songs rated with 5 stars.
I do see the stars in the regular library listing. Why can't I see them in the smart playlist?
This doesn't explain why my iPod doesn't do live updating anymore. Hmm.

My smart playlists are not showing up on my iPhone after turning on Music Match

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But all the Smart Playlists I created for my iPhone are not showing up so my music is not grouped the way I want it to be.
For example, I have a playlist that selects out all the songs with three stars or more that have not been played in the last 2 weeks (so I only hear songs I like, but have not heard lately).
So what's up??

Isn't iTunes 10.5 r 9 a beta release for developers? If that's the case then isn't there a special web site for developers to discuss issues (and they are not supposed to discuss them on the public forum)? If you're not a developer and have this through unofficial channels then I'm not sure you can expect full functionality.

Why may smart playlists not show up on Apple TV?

I am using iTunes 10.3 to make smart playlists, and am telling iTunes to sync the smart playlist to an Apple TV (1st gen.). However, the smart playlist I tell iTunes to sync appears for a moment, then disappears after sync is complete. The music that appears in the smart playlist is indeed on the Apple TV, but the playlist itself isn't.
Any ideas why this may be the case, and are there any solutions to this problem using iTunes 10?

Must admit I'm a bit confused with this. I have Home Sharing etc enabled and run the ATV remote on an iPhone and an iPad. Now, when I have the MacBook on I can access the full iTunes library on that device along with ALL the playlists etc.
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This brings me to another query. Obviously I can access my playlists through the regular iPhone Music app and then use AirPlay to listen through the Apple TV. So it's likely a quicker solution. What I wonder though is whether the sound quality is any different. Being somewhat naive with regard to how this stuff works (bit like beer really, I like it, but don't know how it works) I'm assuming the sound quality would be no different given that it would presumably use the same protocols etc. to stream the data.
Odd that I can't see device playlists when using the devices only??

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Christmas Smart Playlist

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