Alphabetizing Artist PLAYLISTS by LAST NAME?

Question

Alphabetizing Artist PLAYLISTS by LAST NAME?

Well... I just figured out how to alphabetize my iTunes LIBRARY by each artist's LAST NAME (Bob Dylan under "D"... finally!!!)

It only took me 6 years to figure that out!

I'd also like for my PLAYLISTS (which, in my case, are mainly entire albums) to be listed this way, too. Joni Mitchell playlists (albums) need to be grouped under "M", not "J".

Anyone know if this can be done through some kind of sorting command? Or, do I have to rename all my playlists like this: "Mitchell, Joni: Court and Spark", "Mitchell, Joni: Blue" etc, etc.

Thanks...

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Sep 8, 2010 2:19 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Chris CA

Level 10

82,513 points

Sep 8, 2010 2:29 PM in response to deepbluesea330

You have to change the playlist name.

which, in my case, are mainly entire albums)

Why? Playlists for albums are not needed.
iTunes menu View > Column browser.
All Aritsts and Albums ar elisted up top.
Select one (or multiple) and see only the songs from the items selected.

It only took me 6 years to figure that out!

Sort fields were only introduced in version 7.1, released in March 2008.

Reply

Answer 2

Sep 8, 2010 2:33 PM in response to deepbluesea330

Can you give me a clue how to do it? I have multiples...i.e. Beatles, The Beatles and all my single artists are sorted by their first names.

Reply

Answer 3

Chris CA

Level 10

82,513 points

Sep 8, 2010 3:04 PM in response to wisconsinmom

Select a song by someone, right click - get info.
Click the Sorting tab and type in the *Sort Artist* field how you want it to be sorted. If you want *Dolly Parton* to be sorted as *Parton, Dolly*, put that in the *Sort Artist* field then click OK.
Now right click that song again and Apply Sort field > Same Artist.

All song by Dolly Parton will be displayed as Doll Parton and be sorted under P .

Reply

Answer 4

Sep 8, 2010 7:01 PM in response to Chris CA

Why? Playlists for albums are not needed.
iTunes menu View > Column browser.
All Aritsts and Albums ar elisted up top.
Select one (or multiple) and see only the songs from the items selected

DID NOT KNOW THAT. COOL. (Though, by naming Playlists with album names I can see all my albums in one list...)

It only took me 6 years to figure that out!

Sort fields were only introduced in version 7.1, released in March 2008

Ok, now I feel only like an idiot (not a complete moron). Thanks!

Reply

Answer 5

Sep 8, 2010 7:07 PM in response to Chris CA

I should have also mentioned that I'm getting ready to buy my first iPod, and I'd like to have my playlists (albums by artist) alphabetized LOGICALLY (i.e. "Dylan" under "D" not "B").

So, while your suggestion about using VIEW > COLUMN BROWSER is great on my iMac, this won't help with an iPod.

So, looks like I'll need to change all my Playlists (albums) to LAST NAME, FIRST NAME: ALBUM NAME.

Right?

Reply

Answer 6

Sep 8, 2010 8:27 PM in response to Chris CA

thanks for the help, Chris!

Reply

Answer 7

Chris CA

Level 10

82,513 points

Sep 8, 2010 8:38 PM in response to deepbluesea330

Though, by naming Playlists with album names I can see all my albums in one list…)

All albums are already in a single list up top in the browser.

I should have also mentioned that I'm getting ready to buy my first iPod, and I'd like to have my playlists (albums by artist) alphabetized LOGICALLY (i.e. "Dylan" under "D" not "B").

You can view by Artist or by Album. Go to an Artist and you will see all albums by that artist.

About using many playlists.
Playlists are contained in the *iTunes library.itl* file and the *iTunes library.xml* file.
The more playlists you have, the larger these files are.
iTunes rewrites these files many times per session.
Any time you play a song, finish a song or skip a song, create, edit or delete a playlist, edit any tags, add/delete songs in the library, reorder a playlist, add artwork and other actions, iTunes will rewrite these files _after every single event_.
The larger these files are, the longer it takes to rewrite them over and over.

Reply