"Copy To Play Order"--what does it do?

Question

"Copy To Play Order"--what does it do?

From what I gather "Copy To Play Order" only is for "Smart Playlists" set on "Shuffle." Next thing I understand is this: once you have a SP shuffled in your preferred order, you ctrl-click the playlist and select "Copy To Play Order". But, this makes no sense when (1) the playlist is reshuffled or (2) you quit iTunes and re-open it. So, what's this function for?

Posted on Nov 3, 2005 6:50 PM

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Answer 1

Sara.M.

Level 4

2,070 points

Nov 3, 2005 7:51 PM in response to Matt Agajanian

It's most useful for ordering songs on a playlist before burning it to CD and also for setting the order for an iPod (especially the shuffle) to play its songs.

In this thread:
http://discussions.info.apple.com/webx?128@@.68bcfa2b
there's some more discussion of how it works.

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Answer 2

Nov 3, 2005 9:55 PM in response to Sara.M.

okay but, what about part two of my question--this all gets shuffled around AGAIN when another "Shuffle" command is issued or the iPod or iTunes is shut down. So, what then?

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Answer 3

Sara.M.

Level 4

2,070 points

Nov 4, 2005 7:53 AM in response to Matt Agajanian

I don't have a problem with the copy to play order being nullified by a re-shuffling of the playlist. If not, how would you tell it that you've changed your mind about the order?

But I don't have the same problem as you in terms of the order being reset when the iPod or iTunes is shut down. When either is turned back on the order is still the same on my machines.

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Answer 4

Nov 4, 2005 3:02 PM in response to Sara.M.

I can see your point, but it's not about "changing your mind." The general idea here is if you toggle shuffling for that playlist (even if by accident), there is no PERMANENT, unmodifiable, lockable way to prevent "Shuffle" from operating on a playlist. That is the idea I am getting at here. Any thoughts?

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Answer 5

Nov 4, 2005 3:16 PM in response to Matt Agajanian

there is no PERMANENT, unmodifiable, lockable way to prevent "Shuffle" from operating on a playlist

Not in iTunes, so in case of "accident" - Export Song List or burn a CD. 🙂

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Answer 6

Nov 4, 2005 3:58 PM in response to Robert Williams3

Well, I guess I'll send ANOTHER suggestion to the Apple people. Why is iTunes SO deficient on functionality?! Makes me want to go to the Windows side.

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Answer 7

Nov 4, 2005 7:38 PM in response to Matt Agajanian

Just curious Matt, what functionality are you asking for?

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Answer 8

Nov 4, 2005 8:06 PM in response to Robert Williams3

Where do I start?

1--crossover track mamagement
2--true full boolean playlist control for Smart Playlists
3--separate track AND album produuction fields
4--32K comment field
5--Album label/distribution label fields
6--Searchable Lyric field for general use and as a Smart Playlist criteria field
7--Sub-genre field (to maintain consistency with the iTMS)
8--Selective En/Dis-able of "Shuffle" menu item for playlists. To prevent accidental shuffling.

That's just a partial list.

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Answer 9

Sara.M.

Level 4

2,070 points

Nov 5, 2005 12:11 AM in response to Matt Agajanian

Seems to me iTunes has the best feature set of any free program I've ever used, in any category.

Sure, we could each list a few improvements that would suit our needs, but considering I'm not paying for it, I find it hard to complain that iTunes is not good enough.

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Answer 10

Nov 5, 2005 12:48 AM in response to Matt Agajanian

Out of curiosity, is there a program that has all of those features?

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Answer 11

Nov 5, 2005 1:03 AM in response to Brian Schuch

Y'know if Apple WANTS to be a leader in the music, computer or software field, their production of sub-standard and amateur level software surely proves their lack of ambition to be better than the PC competition. Also, they've no desire in producing free professional/studio grade software for the general public. How can you keep a competitive edge by releasing toddler toy softwate?

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