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ITunes Playlist organization


lusitano

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Hello

Not sure this topic has been covered, but I am interested in knowing how you organize large libraries in your iTunes. I organize with playlists, divided in folders organized by decades and genres. Any idea or different experience ? Some of the folders are in portuguese, but it is understandable in english. I still use ITunes 9 in my main computer, I hate iTunes 11.

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how do you cope with an artist releasing in 1999 and then 2003?.

 

My folders are organized by the artists first release. If he started in 1999 he will be in the 90´s folder. All the records he releases after that will also be in these playlist. I find it easier to locate artist this way. Also if you choose a decade folder you can put it in shuffle mode and get a continuous playlist of artists from that decade. The reason for creating playlists for artists is due to deficient tagging. Sometimes the same artist is classified under different names or he records solo albums (Supertramp/ Roger Hodgson). Your way of organizing also seems interesting.

Home:Mac Mini 2012, DACMagic Plus, Amplifier Rotel RA 1520, CD player Azur 651 BD, turntable: Technics SL-1200, Speakers: Klipsch RF 82 + B&W 684, iD100 Digital Dock

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It is time consuming, but it is a hobby so it is a pleasure. The main advantage is you choose your genres the way you like it and not leave it to iTunes to categorize it. It is also very helpful when passing to an iPod so you get perfect playlists to play in the car. My library has 13.000 songs ( 300gb), so the more organized the better.

Home:Mac Mini 2012, DACMagic Plus, Amplifier Rotel RA 1520, CD player Azur 651 BD, turntable: Technics SL-1200, Speakers: Klipsch RF 82 + B&W 684, iD100 Digital Dock

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I can see the point of playlists for genre - especially as you can then use multiple genres - i.e. genre set as "Rock & Pop; Female soloist" then have a playlist "genre contains Rock & Pop" and another "genre contains Female soloist". The by years playlists are a good idea too - but for me thats about year of release of the album.

 

I can't see the point of playlists for individual artists.

 

Eloise

Eloise

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...in my opinion / experience...

While I agree "Everything may matter" working out what actually affects the sound is a trickier thing.

And I agree "Trust your ears" but equally don't allow them to fool you - trust them with a bit of skepticism.

keep your mind open... But mind your brain doesn't fall out.

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Hello

Not sure this topic has been covered, but I am interested in knowing how you organize large libraries in your iTunes. I organize with playlists, divided in folders organized by decades and genres. Any idea or different experience ? Some of the folders are in portuguese, but it is understandable in english. I still use ITunes 9 in my main computer, I hate iTunes 11.

 

Are all of those manual lists? Why don't you use smart playlists?

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Are all of those manual lists? Why don't you use smart playlists?

 

My collection is songcetric and not albumcentric. Although 90% is ripped from CD (ALAC) I only rip the songs I like. I still keep the CD´s in case I want to listen to the whole album. What happens sometimes is you have for example Waterboys and in the same playlist you wish yo have Mike Scott (Which is the same). With smart playlist the tagging does not allow this. I don´t trust the tagging system because sometimes the name of an artist is misspelled and it does not show up. The main idea is to build playlists that only have selected music I really enjoy and that will play for hours. The beauty of computer audio is the easiness to listen to music continuously.

Home:Mac Mini 2012, DACMagic Plus, Amplifier Rotel RA 1520, CD player Azur 651 BD, turntable: Technics SL-1200, Speakers: Klipsch RF 82 + B&W 684, iD100 Digital Dock

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My collection is songcetric and not albumcentric. Although 90% is ripped from CD (ALAC) I only rip the songs I like. I still keep the CD´s in case I want to listen to the whole album. What happens sometimes is you have for example Waterboys and in the same playlist you wish yo have Mike Scott (Which is the same). With smart playlist the tagging does not allow this. I don´t trust the tagging system because sometimes the name of an artist is misspelled and it does not show up. The main idea is to build playlists that only have selected music I really enjoy and that will play for hours. The beauty of computer audio is the easiness to listen to music continuously.

 

It's probably a bit late now, but I'd recommend that you'd rather focus your efforts on the embedded tags in the songs than on playlists. If the embedded tags are correct you can easily use smart playlists (e.g. give me all Elton John albums from 1970-1976, but not if the title is XXX), AND unlike your Itunes traditional playlists, they are portable, if you ever decide to move away from Itunes to another library manager/music server/SD card or whatever else we'll be using in the future.

 

I spend A LOT of time getting my tags right, but given that I'll live with my library for several decades to come, I think it is time well spent.

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It's probably a bit late now, but I'd recommend that you'd rather focus your efforts on the embedded tags in the songs than on playlists.

 

I agree.

 

To facilitate smart playlists by time interval, I recommend using the Year tag to represent the original recording date of the individual track, not the date the album as a whole was released or remastered. You can use the Album or Group tag for the latter.

 

(Because I listen 99% to classical, I use the Album tag to identify the work/composition, not the actual album on which it was released. I use the Group tag for the latter, including the remastering date if much later than the recording date.)

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Are all of those manual lists? Why don't you use smart playlists?

 

Agreed and speaking as one who for the longest time manually created and maintained playlists and only very recently discovered smart playlists (silly me). They are extremely easy to set up and auto update with any additions or in one case deletes from one playlist as it meets a defined criteria. Absolutely easier.

"A mind is like a parachute. It doesn't work if it is not open."
Frank Zappa
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