Old question: How do I create a playlist of just purchased music from the iTunes store? I did a search on this site, but no matter what search parameters I enter, I get 40 results, none of which match. I know this is an old subject, but I can't remember how.

Thanks.

Monty

Newbie question: How do I create a smart playlist using the Comments option. For example if I want to put the comment "Romantic" by songs?

Create a SPL
1.) hold down the option key (and you will see the "+" button (on the lower left of the iTunes app. change to a "*". Click it.
2.) use the key command: option/apple/n
or
3.) New Smart Playlist in the Edit menu.

Then in the dialog box that pops up use the drop down field to change it to "Comment" and the drop down box in the middle to change it to: "contains" ; "does not contain"; "is"; "is not"; "starts with" or "ends with", then fill in whatever you want in the empty field.

Hope that helps. I use "Comment" quite a bit for taylored SPLs. Have fun!

Crimson,
Thank you very much!
bruce

Glad to help!

brand new iPod 15GB. plugged it in to my iBook but only about 1/3 of my library transfers to the iPod. I use Smartplaylists (of course!). Have tried manual, auto, etc. Have tried everything, basically. Is there some quirk with Smart Playlists that could be preventing the transfer? Help.

A REALLY newbie question:
Ok, so I have 1,000 songs downloaded. Some from my computer/radio, etc, and some from my CD library. Every time I download a CD, I create a playlist with the CD's name and download to that particular playlist. However, I've found it tiresome to have to scroll through all 1,000 (and potentially 10,000) songs everytime I want to find one of the "non CD downloaded songs". What do you suggest? I wish there was an a-z button to immediately jump to the different letters!

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

No need to create a playlist for each CD. There *is* an a-z button! It's called the Browse Button and you find it in the top right corner of iTunes when you have iTunes fully open. It has an eyeball on it.

Click that and 3 panes open up revealing your entire library sorted by GENRE; ARTIST; ALBUM. With any category selected you can type any letter and the list will jump directly to that letter. Or if you type fast enough you can even type multiple letters as in: "r", which in my list under ARTIST, takes me to R. Carlos Nakai, "ra" takes me to Rachael Yamagata, and "rar" takes me to Rasa (as I have no artist in my Library that begins "rar"). Similarly I can go to ALBUM and type "s" and go directly to Sacred Journey of Kukai or I type "sg" and I go to Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. What's more if I put my cursor in the search box after selecting one of "GENRE" "ARTIST" or "ALBUM" column I can type in anything and the search will filter as I type.

Also if you want to create a playlist for a certain album there is a *better* way. Simply rip the album (download it as you say) then after the album has been ripped to iTunes, select the songs you want to include on the album and then go to File>New Playlist From Selection and iTunes will create a playlist that is properly named and all for that CD. Or if you want to use Smart Playlist then after you have ripped the CD in question go to File>New Smart Playlist and create a playlist with "Match the following condition" Album is "whatever you want here" and you will get a new Smart Playlist with your just ripped CD.

Hope this helps!

Thank you for explaining this. However, I didn't make my self clear. I know how to navigate(browse) in ITunes. I was referring to scrolling on my IPOD with my thumb. If I have 1,000 songs, and they are not part of a playlist (or what if I just want to find a song and don't know what playlist I have it under), then I have to scroll with thumb to find it....does that make sense?

newbie question guys, i have created a few "smart" playlists, and i am pretty sure i can have these playlists saved onto my ipod mini so i don't have to scroll all the way through to liten to a song i like. i am having serious trouble figuring out how to do this...any help would be appreciated.

thanks

Hi Kyle! Welcome! If you have your iPod plugged in, go to the Edit|Preferences menu option. Then click on the ipod tab. It should be the second from the left.

Is the first radio button highlighted? It says "Automatically update all songs and playlists." If it is, your playlists should appear on your mini.

If you have more music in iTunes than fits on your iPod, then you will likely have one of the other two radio buttons highlighted.

If the "Automatically update selected playlists only" button is highlighted, then check the box next to the name of the pls you want on your ipod.

Good luck!

another newbie question: I've set the criteria for my smart playlist and have the title in the source column but nothing is being pulled in to the smart playlist. I am trying to set something up to keep my christmas music from shuffling in with all my other music. I listen to my songs shuffled and if i just put my christmas music in as a regular playlist, it will shuffle with everything else. Help!

here's the easiest way: set up a smart playlist with one condition: <genre> <is not> [christmas]

okay. if you're playing from a smart playlist that already has a condition, most important is that you can't truly exclude anything from a playlist that is set to "match <any> of the following rules". if you want to be sure a particular thing won't play, you have to make it a requirement by switching to "match <all>".

i have a pretty complicated set of smart playlists feeding the party shuffle. here's how i exclude songs.

1. itunes 5 and 6 have folders, which are treated like playlists for most stuff. so i made a playlist folder called "off" and i keep smart and dumb playlists of songs i don't want to play in that folder. this includes some genres, songs i don't want to shuffle, and songs on the ipod.

2. every playlist that is part of the party shuffle feeder system is set to "match <all" and has a last condition: <playlist> <is not> [off]

3. songs i don't want to play i just drag to a playlist and put that in the "off" folder and instantly they're out of the party shuffle rotation. (for this really to work without any extra work i have the party shuffle set to "<0> upcoming songs".)

BTW for other folks i found in mac itunes that putting folders inside folders really slows itunes down.

ah i forgot - for the "<genre><is not>[christmas]" thing to work you have to have put all your holiday music as "christmas". obviously if you've filed it under something else like "holiday" or something, you'd use the name you gave them.

More than one condition...

How do I create a list that has Rock, Alternative, more than 4 stars, and Punk?

Thanks!
poppy13

if what you want is "rock songs, alternative songs, punk songs, and any other songs that are more than 4 stars" then you want "match any" to get more than one thing into the list like that, so...

--
match <any> of the following rules:

<genre><is>[rock ]
<genre><is>[alternative ]
<genre><is>[punk ]
<rating><is greater than>[ * * * * ]
--

if what you want instead is punk, rock, and alternative songs that have 5 stars, then you have a little more work to do. make 3 playlists:

--
match <all> of the following rules:
<genre><is>[rock ]
<rating><is greater than>[ * * * * ]
--
match <all> of the following rules:
<genre><is>[alternative ]
<rating><is greater than>[ * * * * ]
--
match <all> of the following rules:
<genre><is>[punk ]
<rating><is greater than>[ * * * * ]
--

and then put them all in one folder.

Just out of curorisity - does the order of the conditions matter?

Thanks for the help.

no, doesn't matter. it's a really simple system. BTW in that second example, after you make the 3 playlists, you can also make them into one list with another smart playlist:

--
match <any> of the following rules:
<playlist><is>[top rock songs ]
<playlist><is>[top alternative songs ]
<playlist><is>[top punk songs ]
--

sticking them in a folder is easier and works just as well. the reason you might collect them with SPL instead is if you want to limit the size of the final list or something like that.

(oh and of course nothing says you can't do both if you want)

Trying to create just one list with the conditions of say 4 or more stars, is rock, and is alternative, and is punk return results that were not by all of the conditions. So I got some rock songs that had no rating. Ah well - so much for simple. Creating the three top "genre" lists will have to be the way. Thanks

thanks to all for the help. Haven't had time yet to play with it but at least now i have a direction to head!

When I purchase a cd and rip it into my computer, I want the same exact tracklist order as the cd itself, but somehow it is jumbling the order. How do I correct this?

Sort by album, click on the column header for album.

Sorry, poppy, but I'm still having trouble with this. I have sorted it by album and it just creates another playlist. Could you be a little more specific? Thanks for your help.

Hi guys newbie question for ya

Is it possible (and if so how) to create a completely random playlist (just like the shuffle function) that will exclude only 1 band?

The reason I ask is that I have a LOT of Iron Maiden on my IPod but, I'll select it when I want it, when I select random I want other stuff.

Thanks

Mad Genius