Do you ever ask yourself, “If I’ve got iTunes set to shuffle all songs, why do I keep hearing these same songs over and over again?!?” For some reason, the loop of tunes you’re hearing doesn’t really feel shuffled – much less random – at all. Wouldn’t it be nice if your iTunes played only the songs that you haven’t heard in a long time? Oh wait, it CAN! … Who knew?
Apple developed this tool called the Smart Playlist that allows you to set certain parameters to generate a playlist populated by only the tunes that you’ve got an inkling to hear. Like Christmas music, Songs about Love, or comedy bits by Adam Sandler that are more than 4 minutes long.
The Smart Playlist gives you ultimate control: letting you be as specific as you want to be, and then paring down your lists by more than a dozen variables. And, as a matter of fact, when I’m finished writing this post, I’m going to create a playlist Hip Hop, R&B and Rap songs with the word “Girl” in the title… just to find out how many I’ve got in my library 🙂
Here’s what to do:
1. Open iTunes. In the File menu, choose New Smart Playlist.
2. Make sure to check the box next to “Match the following rule” if you’re going to have iTunes add songs that match specific criteria.
3. Make your selections from the pop-up menus provided.
Here’s My Christmas Smart Playlist!
* You can add extra criteria by clicking the Plus (+) button.
4. You can limit the size or duration of a playlist by choosing the “Limit to” option in the menu.
5. To include only songs that have a checkmark beside them in your library (and that match your conditions), select “Match only checked songs.”
6. iTunes will continually modify your Smart Playlist whenever songs are added to or removed from your library, as long as “Live updating” is selected.
7. To finalize your Smart Playlist, click OK, then give it a name in your source list.
Remember: iTunes will add any songs in your library that match the settings you chose are added to the playlist. If your list isn’t as refined as you’d like, you can always add extra qualifiers later.
Good luck! And have fun creating Smart Playlists to fit your every mood!
p.s. As of right now, my Library has 13 Hip Hop/Rap/R&B songs with “Girl” in the title.
