Q: Does iTunes Music keep track of playcounts (smart playlists)

So, here goes. It's long, but hopefully helpful. Hopefully others will join in and share their experience on how this is working (or not working) similar to how we ultimately figured out how iTunes Match worked (or didn't work) when it finally worked (and didn't work). LOL

Right now I'm seeing that my playcounts are being updated just as with iTunes Match, where in it happens instantaneously when I listen to songs through iTunes from a desktop or laptop. My iOS devices are updated with the last played and updated playcount and my smart playlists are updated accordingly.

From iOS devices, it takes playing a song to completion after at least 12 hours has passes since the last sync. At that point it will sync all playcounts since the last sync. So, plays don't sync to the cloud immediately, but they sync eventually. Once that sync happens, all other devices will show the updated library.

I am seeing this hold true for songs played through the "Connect" and "For You" sections on the iOS device. I played a suggested playlist and the songs in the playlist that are also in my library show up in my recently played smart playlist on the device. Eventually, when the next cloud sync happens, I believe those playcounts will be synced to the cloud library and will be reflected on all other devices.

However, I'm not seeing this hold true for songs played through the "Connect" and "For You" sections in iTunes on my laptop. I played the same suggested playlist on my laptop and the songs in the playlist that are also in my library do not show up in my recently played smart playlist on iTunes (and are of course subsequently not pushing instantaneously to my iOS devices). Since my local library isn't show those songs as played, I don't believe they will ever show up in the cloud library or to other devices, but time will tell.

I'm not seeing ANY playcounts being logged for any songs listened to that haven't been added to my library from any device. This is a bummer. I was hoping the service would keep track of ratings and playcounts for any song, whether I've added it to my library or not. That way, I could rate songs and have a smart playlist that will pull any song i've ever rated and I don't have to clutter my library for just that one song. It would also keep from making a "favorite" song a 2 step process to get in a playlist. Right now, you have to add a song to your library and rate it or add it to a playlist. You can't even rate or add a song to a playlist in iTunes without adding it to your library first (which explains why you can do it in the Music app on an iOS device but nothing actually happens). On most other services, such as Google Play All Access, you can just "like" (star, thumbs up, whatever) and it will show up in the starred/thumbs up list whether you've made it a part of your library or not. It makes it easy to keep track of songs you liked and go back and listen to them later without the clunkiness of multiple taps. If Apple were to make APple Music work in this way, you could ultimately like a song from the lockscreen and it would show up in a playlist (either a smart playlist you create, or an auto-playlist Apple would create, like is done on Google Play All Access and Spotify).

Well, I can add a new development to my last post. It appears the "instant" sync from iTunes on laptop/desktop to the cloud isn't, in fact, instant. Since ratings are instant, whenever I rate a song, it instantiates an update, but otherwise, there's no update until...I don't know.

I face the same playcount sync problem with Apple Music

I'm usually listening music using iPad off-line, with tracks downloaded from Apple Music

Track ratings (with stars) are indeed well synchronized : tracks rated on iPad will appear with the same rating in iTunes after connecting iPad with WiFi, but playcounts desperately remain at "0" in iTunes, even after a few hours connection of iPad to network

Playcounts nevertheless seem to update well on my iPad (even if playcount is not displayed on iPad) : I created a playlist in iTunes including tracks with playcount = 0 only.

The playlist automatically appears on iPad

Then, after reading one track off-line on iPad (downloaded from Apple Music), this track disappears from the playlist on iPad only, but remains in the playlist in iTunes (because playcount won't update), even after connecting iPad to network

This is really a problem !

Any idea to solve it ?

Once you connect the iPad to the network, do you play a song from it? In my experience, you have to play a track to completion after 12 hours has passed since the last sync from that iOS device. I have never explicitly tested this for tracks played when offline but I don't have any reason to believe it doesn't work properly since it doesn't sync after each track play anyway. It's just syncing the played tracks from the device after the last sync. If I get a chance, I'll test it out.

I just tried : after connecting iPad to network, I played 1 song until completion

None of the tracks I played off-line, or even the one I just played on-line, synchronize : playcount in iTunes still at 0 (only rating is synchronized, but this is almost immediate once on-line)

Hmph. Odd. Ratings are definitely instantaneous in my experience too. I'll have to try and see if my experience is the same. Also, try again 12 hours (or more) from when you finished playing the song while connected to the network and see if it syncs that song.

@crankerchick : thanks !

Just to clarify the way I'm trying to use Apple Music: I'm listening to my music approx. 1 hour daily in public transport - subway - meaning off-line on iPad

I connect my iPad to network every evening at home.

I do that since 3 weeks now : ratings synchronize well, but playcount : never !

I will make a test with my iPhone (I have not yet actuated Apple Music Library on my iPhone, I was just doing tests using iPad).

May be it will work with iPhone ... who knows ...

I keep you informed

Good news : it works on iPhone, but, as you said, play counts are synchronizing with delay.

This evening, I can see playcounts in iTunes for tracks I played this morning, but nothing yet for tracks I played 1 hour ago.

I assume that this delay in playcount synchronization explains why it does not work with iPad : iPhone is permanently on-line through 3G/4G, while iPad is only on-line when connected to WiFi.

If synchronization process occurs at regular interval, without taking into account the device connection status, there are low chances it will work on iPad (or there is a bug on iPad Music app (?)