Need Help with an iTunes Smart Playlist

[kavi]

Hello, I'm trying to do a clean up of my massive iTunes library and I'm using a smart playlist to help.

Here's what I've got:

Media kind is music
Last skipped not in the last month
Last played not in the last month

This way I can just put the playlist on shuffle and if there's a song I don't like I just rate it as 1 star. I then remove all the 1 starred songs from my library later.

In theory I'd like to be able to have the song disappear from the playlist if it's either played or skipped. With this currently playlist though it only disappears if it's been played. If the song has been skipped then it stays in the playlist. I'm skipping past way more songs than I'm playing since my goal is to sort the music as fast as possible. But I am listening to the playlist while I'm doing other work so sometimes I let the entire song play, especially if it's good.

The problem has to be with having both last skipped and last played at the same time so is there any way to have the song automatically removed from the play list if it's either been skipped once in the last month or played once in the last month?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[GGJstudios]

In theory I'd like to be able to have the song disappear from the playlist if it's either played or skipped.

Just add the criteria:

Last Played - not in the last - 1 days
Last Skipped - not in the last - 1 days​

That way, as soon as you play or skip a song, it will drop off that list. You can adjust the time frame as you see fit.

Alternatively, you could check all the songs, and add the checkbox to "Match only checked items". Then simply uncheck the currently playing song after you've starred it and it will drop off the list.

 

[kavi]

I have both those criteria already already in. I think the problem is that they're canceling each other out or something.

If I let the song finish playing it disappears from the playlist but if I skip it it stays in the playlist.

If I remove the last played not in X then all the skipped songs disappear since that's the only criteria. It's when I have both those that it seems to not work for some reason and I'm hoping to figure out why.

 

[GGJstudios]

I have both those criteria already already in. I think the problem is that they're canceling each other out or something.

If I let the song finish playing it disappears from the playlist but if I skip it it stays in the playlist.

If I remove the last played not in X then all the skipped songs disappear since that's the only criteria. It's when I have both those that it seems to not work for some reason and I'm hoping to figure out why.

Open your "Edit Smart Playlist" window, take a screen shot and post it.

 

[kavi]

Here it is. Should it be match any maybe? Match all makes way more sense though...

Edit: yeah, match any didn't work at all. It just got everything that wasn't music and a ton of other stuff added to the playlist.

 

[GGJstudios]

Here it is. Should it be match any maybe? Match all makes way more sense though...

Edit: yeah, match any didn't work at all. It just got everything that wasn't music and a ton of other stuff added to the playlist.

It should be like this:

​

 

[kavi]

Ok, incredibly dumb question but how do you add that any line in the second row and get the last two sort of nested under it?

I can't figure that out at all.

 

[GGJstudios]

Ok, incredibly dumb question but how do you add that any line. in the second row and get the last two sort of nested under it?

I can't figure that out at all.

Hold the Option key down and the "+" button becomes a "..." button, allowing you to add sub-levels of criteria.

 

[kavi]

Thanks although that still didn't fix it. Now the songs stay in the playlist even if they're played through until the end or skipped...

I've attached a screenshot incase there's one thing I just can't see that I'm missing.

I think if I "match all" it's only including songs that have both been not skipped and not played. Therefore they won't disappear from the playlist unless I've both played and skipped them.

If I "match any" I think it's also pulling everything because even though it's matching one criteria it doesn't have to match the other one.

There has to be something I'm missing because there has to be a way to just not include anything that's been played or skipped recently.

 

[GGJstudios]

Thanks although that still didn't fix it. Now the songs stay in the playlist even if they're played through until the end or skipped...

I've attached a screenshot incase there's one thing I just can't see that I'm missing.

I think if I "match all" it's only including songs that have both been not skipped and not played. Therefore they won't disappear from the playlist unless I've both played and skipped them.

If I "match any" I think it's also pulling everything because even though it's matching one criteria it doesn't have to match the other one.

There has to be something I'm missing because there has to be a way to just not include anything that's been played or skipped recently.

Change "is not in the last" to "is in the last"

 

[kavi]

I figured out what's going on. It's not counting the skips for some reason. I made a smart playlist with just:

media kind is music
last skipped not in the last 2 months

If I skip the song it stays in the playlist. I added the column for the last skipped date and when I skip a song that column stays empty.

So my new problem is it's not counting my skips for some reason.

Any idea what's up with that?

 

[GGJstudios]

I figured out what's going on. It's not counting the skips for some reason. I made a smart playlist with just:

media kind is music
last skipped not in the last 2 months

If I skip the song it stays in the playlist. I added the column for the last skipped date and when I skip a song that column stays empty.

So my new problem is it's not counting my skips for some reason.

Any idea what's up with that?

Post a screen shot of your smart playlist settings. Did you make the change I suggested in my last post?

 

[Mal]

I figured out what's going on. It's not counting the skips for some reason. I made a smart playlist with just:

media kind is music
last skipped not in the last 2 months

If I skip the song it stays in the playlist. I added the column for the last skipped date and when I skip a song that column stays empty.

So my new problem is it's not counting my skips for some reason.

Any idea what's up with that?

No, the problem is that you're telling it to only look for songs that weren't skipped two months ago. You need to switch the criteria as suggested to "Last skipped is in the last 2 months".

jW

 

[kavi]

Ok that sort of makes sense but if I go "last skipped is in the last 2 months" I only get the songs that I skipped in the last two months.

I'm trying to get only the songs I haven't skipped in the last two months.

If I skip a song right now I want it gone from the playlist for two months...

 

[Mal]

Ok that sort of makes sense but if I go "last skipped is in the last 2 months" I only get the songs that I skipped in the last two months.

I'm trying to get only the songs I haven't skipped in the last two months.

If I skip a song right now I want it gone from the playlist for two months...

Eh, you're right, I wasn't thinking. At least that tells you the skip counts are actually working. Sorry, not sure what to suggest now.

jW

 

[GGJstudios]

Ok that sort of makes sense but if I go "last skipped is in the last 2 months" I only get the songs that I skipped in the last two months.

I'm trying to get only the songs I haven't skipped in the last two months.

If I skip a song right now I want it gone from the playlist for two months...

As I recommended earlier, post a screen shot of your current playlist settings, if they're different from those in post #9. Then describe again what you want to accomplish.