Smart Playlist from range of artists

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Level 1

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Smart Playlist from range of artists

I have a large library and wish to split it across two iPods by artist range. One iPod has all songs by artists beginning A to M, the other N-Z. To do this I wanted to create two smart playlists; one with artists beginning A-M, the other N-Z. Then I can sync each of these lists to a different iPod.

My problem is I can't see how to create a range of artists in the Smart PLaylist definition. I have tried lots of the usual boolean operators (e.g. Artist starts with A-M) but none of them seem to work.

I've been wrestling with this for a long time. Any ideas?

iMac / Macbook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.2), iTunes 9.0.3

Posted on Feb 6, 2010 7:44 PM

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Answer 1

ed2345

Level 9

63,098 points

Feb 7, 2010 5:18 AM in response to paulcross

I think the Smart playlist is not digesting the hyphen range indicator in "A-M."

Instead set up one smart playlist called "A to M" with 13 rules "Artist starts with A" "Artist starts with B" and so on to M, with "Match Any" chosen.

Make a second one with the rule "Playlist is not A to M." It will pick up the N to Z artists, plus any artists that start with non-alphabetic characters, like ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead or 50 Cent.

As with any smart playlists, feel free to fiddle with the rules until you are happy with the results.

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Answer 2

paulcross Author

Level 1

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Feb 7, 2010 11:19 AM in response to ed2345

Thanks ed2345. I was coming to the conclusion that the 13 rule method was the only way. Clunky though. Seems weird they can't process the range.

The 'is not' touch is a nice one. Hadn't thought of that.

Thanks again.

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Answer 3

ed2345

Level 9

63,098 points

Feb 7, 2010 2:55 PM in response to paulcross

Yeah, the "is not" is very handy, especially in your case, since it will make sure to pick up all the artists who start with numbers or punctuation, or whose tag was left blank. It would be hard to do that any other way.

Anyway, you are quite welcome. Enjoy the music!

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