Separating (identical )duplicate files by smart playlist

I have an external drive to complement my internal drive. i have a set of
music on the internal drive which is included also on the external drive.
I wish to create a smart playlist which displays unique songs rather than all songs which includes duplicates.
the way i have been doing this is to denote all tunes on my internal drive as
BPM=1. This separates the two drives easily using a smart playlist. Then i have used the DUPLICATE SONGS command to identify the music that is on both drives. Then i separate these by denoting the ones found on both and, in particular, located on the internal drive as BPM=12. then i just make a smart playlist which subtracts only these from the entire library.
while this method works well, the problem is that when i choose the duplicate songs command, i need to go through all songs by hand to determine which are IDENTICAL duplicates (i.e. in all information) or DUPLICATES BY NAME.
it seems the duplicate songs command should have more options,
to determine if it's a duplicate only in name or furthermore in ALBUM,ARTIST, etc. then if i could choose all information, i would be able to determine without much effort which songs i want.
is there a way to do this? or is there another method to accomplish what i want in a different fashion anyone can recommend?
thanks
stefanos

Hi Simon,
Missed this thread the first time around.. As Chris says this isn't something that you can pick up with a smart playlist. In principle I could write a script that runs through every track in a selection and notices when the same combination of track number, disc number, album title and album artist comes up. A second pass would then add every track from each affected album to a regular playlist for you to go through and fix up.
In practice when I'm hunting for inconsistencies in the library I've found that stepping through the albums using the column browser is quite effective. In my case I'm generally looking for instances where the same album title is reused by different albums, the obvious example being Greatest Hits, as these jumble together on my iPod classic. When this happens I retitle each album as <Album> - <Album Artist> to separate them. Using the column browser I reckon I can scan through the library at about 2 albums a second, stopping only when something looks amiss.
So, are you still hunting for your misnumbered double albums?
tt2

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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

Restoring All Playlist Files and Smart Playlist Files

I have to reformat my computer. I've saved my iTunes folder to my external hard drive, but what I'm concerned about is all the Smart Playlists and Playlists that I've created. On my other laptop I hooked up my external hard drive and copied the iTunes files, but when I open iTunes, there are no playlists there. I have about 50 smart playlists that I've created. Do I have to recreate all of them after reformating my computer? Is there a file that can be copied that has all that information?

+Is there a file that can be copied that has all that information?+
Yes, it's default name is iTunes Library.itl
Alternatively, you can export each playlist to an XML file and then import it after your PC gets set up again.
Don't forget to deauthrozie itunes before you reformat!

Transferring library from pc; duplicate files and missing playlist

I know this can't be a new topic but I'm having trouble finding a solution. I am very frustrated as I've been working all morning on this and I suspect there is an easy solution.
My new i-mac arrived yesterday. I'm transferring my itunes library from a pc. I have my entire hard drive backed up on an external drive.
I have copied the music from the external hard drive to the imac, then imported the music into itunes. No matter how I approach this I end up with duplicate copies of every song in tunes and no playlists. I've tried copying just the file I thought controlled playlists, I get the playlist name but a message that songs were not imported b/c they could not be found.
Is there an easier way to tackle this? Thanks.

I figured this out on my own. Closing out.

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.

How do i make a smart playlist on my iphone 6 without having it synced to my pc?

I recently switched back to iphone from android and i am pretty lost in the new iOS, Where did the smart playlist go off to? like recently added, recently played, top 25 most played etc etc. I can't sync my phone to a pc because i have a couple i use and i have a bunch of amazon mp3s on it as well that i don't want to lose. I tried to make one in itunes using the file-new-smart playlist and it is grayed out. Not a fan of the new iTunes.

No. The music app on the phone does not support creating smart playlists.

Smart Playlists are not syncing!

I don't remember when this stopped working but I have 1 playlist that shows in iTunes but does not update on the iPod. Not sure why... all the others seem to sync just fine. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Solution/work around:
Add a new smart play list.
File > New Smart Playlist. From this point a pop up will appear.
Match following rule is selected
(Date added) - (In the last) - (2) - (weeks)
No limit set
No match only checked items
Live update selected
Then <ok>.
Change name of smart playlist to something like 'New Music' and Sync to IPhone/IPod.

Smart Playlist for Music Videos

I've fought and fought with iTunes and I cannot figure out how to make a Smart Playlist that JUST HAS MUSIC videos.
I'd like to have a list that just has my music videos in it, but I want it to be a smart playlist so I do not have to keep updating it.
Anyone know how to do this?
Thanks,
mike

I'm think you may be misunderstanding what I'm suggesting. I'm don't mean the "video kind" in the Options panel of the Get Info window. I mean the "Kind" located in the Summary panel.
Each file in iTunes has a "Kind" designation. For example music you buy from the iTMS is Kind: Protected AAC Audio File; the video's I got when I purchased Neil Young's latest album are Kind: QuickTime Move File. The pilot episode of Conviction I download is Kind: Protected MPEG-4 Video File. I suspect this last one is what kind of files the music video's are. To find out:
1. Click a video.
2. Pull down File > Get Info (Apple+I on the keyboard).
3. Click the Summary tab if it is not already selected (Apple+1 on the keyboard).
4. See what "Kind" of file it is by looking at the top of the left-hand column.
5. Click the OK button.
Now that you know that is it time to create the Smart Playlist.
1. Pull down File > New Smart Playlist (AppleOptionN on the keyboard).
2. Make the appropriate menu selections so the criteria are "Kind IS Protected MPEG-4 video file." If your videos are more than one "Kind" repeat this step as necessary.
3. Click OK.
4 Give the playlist whatever name you want to give it. All your music videos will now be in this one playlist.
However, since you want just music video's in the playlist you may still have to "do something" to make sure the TV shows don't show up in the playlist. For example you could put "tv show" in the comments of those files and have the playlist exclude that criteria.
In general Smart Playlists can only work on the data that is in the Summary panel, and the Info panel.

How do you set up nested rules for iTunes smart playlist

How do you set up nested rules for a iTune smart playlist

Hello \"alice\",
It sounds like you want to add additional criteria to your Smart Playlists. I found an article with steps you can use to refine your Smart Playlist. Step 2 specifically has what I think you are looking for:
2. To have iTunes add songs that match specific criteria, make sure to select "Match the following rule," then make your selections from the pop-up menus.
For example, you might want iTunes to only add songs that are by a particular artist, or songs with at least a four-star rating.
To add additional matching criteria, click the Add button.
You can find the full article here:
iTunes: How to create a Smart Playlist
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1801
The article says it is archived. In the current version of iTunes, in step 1 you will select File>New>Smart Playlist. Also, if you need to edit an existing Smart Playlist, you can right click (or hold command while you click) on it and select Edit Smart Playlist.
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
Best,
Sheila M.

QUESTION! I deleted a smart Playlist Accidently, how do I get it back?????

QUESTION! I deleted a smart Playlist Accidently, how do I get it back?
Playlist is 90's Music. I think that is the only one, also can someone list all the smart playlists I'm scared I deleted more than one!

1990's
File -> New smart playlist.
Match rule:
Year is in the range 1990 to 1999
Recently added
File -> New smart playlist
Limit to 100 items (or whatever you want) by Most recently added

Can not make smart playlists anymore?

Since a few weeks I'm not able anymore to make smart playlists. It just doesn't appear anymore in the menu 'File'. Also I am not able to change the names of the existing smart playlists. Why do I have this problem and how to fix it?

If you're asking if you can do it without connecting your ipod to your computer, the answer is no. If you're asking if you can create the same smartplaylists on your ipod (via itunes) but have different rules (which can make them slightly different than what the same playlist in iTunes Library shows) then the answer is yes. Make sure something (one of your playlists or even just the "Music" or name of your ipod) is highlighted first. Then go to File-->New Smart Playlist and then set the rules to how you want them. (ie, "Last Played", "Recently Added", etc).

Restoring Original Smart Playlist.

How do I restore the original smart playlist such as "recently added", "recently played" etc. My daughter deleted a few of them by mistake. Thanks. I have winows xp home edition. an ipod and an iphone 4. I tried re-downloading itunes so i could re-set defaults but it didn't work, thanks.:)

Rebuilding your library is overkill. Just recreate the playlists that you want and have lost. They're not required. The standard list is:
90's Music
Classical Music
Music Videos
My Top Rated
Recently Added
Recently Played
Top 25 Most Played
To rebuild any of the lists simply use File > New Smart Playlist and then enter the rules as shown. As you change options in each row working from left to right the relevant selection boxes or value fields will appear. Use the + symbol to create a new line. When you have finished entering the rules click OK and then give the playlist its name.
90's Music
Recently Added
Top 25 Most Played
I'll post up the others soon...
tt2

Need help with smart playlist

I want to create an auto-fill function for my new 16 GB nano that is the same as my old Shuffle had, as I have much more music on my computer than my nano can hold. I don't want to rate the songs with stars or when last played. I simply want a new selection each time I sync. I was thinking of making a playlist with the rule "Playlist is music" and then limiting it by size to my nano and selected by random. But will I get a new sync each time? Or will that smart playlist never change? How do I do this?
Also, what does the live updating function do? Thanks.

To make a random playlist go to File>New Smart Playlist.
Uncheck "Match the following rule"
Check "Limit to" put "14800" in the number box, choose "MB" from the first list box, choose "Random" from the next list box. Check "Live Updating"
When you want to change the selection in the smart playlist just delete everything in it and it will add a new selection. When you want to change the normal playlist just delete out what you don't want and drag in a new selection.

Smart playlists for file location?

I have half my music on my powerbook hd, and half on an external drive. I want to create a smart playlist of all the music on the internal drive, and one of all the music on the external.
Is this possible? Perhaps I need something else though... I want to avoid the situation of click on a song, and getting the 'not found' prompt, and only see music that is available to me at the time.
Thanks!

Chris CA wrote:
Both correctly include 2 1/2 star songs when one of their criteria is "greater than 2 stars".
Are you sure the songs are not getting includes as part of other criteria in the list?
Very. Each playlist has just two criteria (both of which must match): "Rating is greater than 2" and "Playlist is ___". In fact, I've used those two lists (which between them include essentially all of my rated music) to create a "Rated 2.5" list (which correctly contains all of my 2.5 rated songs and nothing else).
the Smart Playlist option "Rating 'is greater than'" is not mathematically correct, since it does not treat 3 1/2 as greater than 3
It is mathematically correct. You mean it does not work in adding 3 1/2 rating to the playlist.
Yes, that's what I meant, so perhaps I should rephrase: the actual behavior seen after choosing "is greater than" is not the behavior described by the mathematical inequality "A is greater than B" (since some songs with ratings that are greater than B are not included).
On a technical note, the behavior seems to be in "iTunes Library", not in "iTunes Music Library.xml"...
iTunes does not use the iTunes library.xml file. It is created by iTunes only for other applications to access the library.
Ah, thank you! That's good to know. Interestingly, when I look inside the XML file to compare one of my two "especially smart" playlists to what ought to be a perfect duplicate of it (but isn't) there /is/ one small difference in the "Smart Criteria" section (in the next-to-last line of data there, the better-behaving list has a "Bk" in a place where the worse-behaving one has an "A7"). Is there any way for an ordinary user to edit the internals of the actual iTunes Library database?
Have you looked over at dougscripts.com for something on this?
Yup. There are two or three scripts there for setting half-star ratings, but skimming through all search results for 'half-star' or '"smart playlist"' didn't turn up anything relevant.

How to highlight or make a Smart Playlist of missing music files?

I recently converted my library from Mac to PC and out of the 45000 songs there are around 1500 missing. It'll take forever to search my library for the ! next to each missing sing. Anyway to simply get all the missing songs in one list?

You really don't get it, do you.
I really do: You can't bring yourself to say "OK, my solution is not practical or helpful". You're dancing all around it.
I wasn't meaning to "lecture" you but I was - and am - really annoyed. I'm sorry, but I honestly felt that your solution was more about you feeling a need to be technically correct when clearly it was an unhelpful answer and I'm not going to go along with that. And it looks like you're not going to admit your solution was unhelpful.
I might seem to be over-reacting but the thing is it's not just this thread.
I have noticed that there is a lot of this going around on these forums and it's annoying because it derails perfectly sensible questions and wastes a lot of time. It's happened quite a few times to me and the common thread seems to be those who engage in this behaviour have a whole lot of "discussion board points".
What you should have asked is, "Is there an available field in the tags of a movie file that I can use in a Smart Playlist to select for only HD movies". And I would have given you a one-word answer. NO
Yes, I should have. Technically. Semantically. I suppose. Sure.
But anyone can get that from "How can I make a smart playlist of only HD movies?" without assuming I'd want to first manually select all the movies. That's the purposes of the joke quote which seemed to be lost on you. I wasn't just randomly quoting you know, I was making a point.
If only you'd given me a one word answer. Now that would have been helpful.

Separating (identical )duplicate files by smart playlist

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