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User profile for user: 83mjs
83mjs Author
User level: Level 1
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How to repopulate a Smart Playlist (live updating)

I've got a smart playlist ("My Random iPhone")


The criteria:


match ALL of the following:

  1. artist contains " "
  2. media kind is "Music"
  3. limit to 10GB selected by album

Live updating is checked


Now this selects a 10 GB selection from my iTunes library which gives me a large selection on my iPhone 16 GB while leaving room for apps, photos and videos.


I want to repopulate this list (My Random iPhone) with a new selection of music periodically, so that if for instance Metallica isn't on this time, it might be on next time.


I go to My Random iPhone playlist, edit>select all>option+delete and choose to keep files. This repopulates the list.


Problem: in deleteing the songs from the smart playlist, it also removes the songs from my iTunes library. So, suddenly, my iTunes library is 10 GB smaller than it used to be. The songs are still sitting in my iTunes Media>Music folder, but I have to manually readd the whole folder to make it find the missing music.


This is obviously a pain I can do without.


Am I doing something wrong? Can I achieve the repopulation of My Random iPhone a different way? Or is this a bug in iTunes?


My system: Macbook 6,1 (2009), OSX 10.6.8, iTunes 11.0.2 (26)

MacBook (13-inch Late 2009), Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Mar 9, 2013 3:36 AM

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User profile for user: ed2345
ed2345
User level: Level 9
62,492 points

Posted on Mar 9, 2013 4:26 AM


I go to My Random iPhone playlist, edit>select all>option+delete and choose to keep files. This repopulates the list.


Problem: in deleteing the songs from the smart playlist, it also removes the songs from my iTunes library. So, suddenly, my iTunes library is 10 GB smaller than it used to be. The songs are still sitting in my iTunes Media>Music folder, but I have to manually readd the whole folder to make it find the missing music.



83mjs,


When you are removing songs from a playlist:


Delete removes them from the playlist but leaves them in the library.


Option+Delete (or Shift+Delete on Windows) removes them from the playlist and the library.


So if you do what you are doing but don't use the Option key, it will work. Make a small list to try it out.


Alternatively, you can add a rule to your playlist like "Last Played is not in the last 4 weeks," or similar, which will remove things you have heard and replace them with new. This of course is different from refreshing the whole list.

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User profile for user: ed2345
ed2345
User level: Level 9
62,492 points

Mar 9, 2013 4:26 AM in response to 83mjs


I go to My Random iPhone playlist, edit>select all>option+delete and choose to keep files. This repopulates the list.


Problem: in deleteing the songs from the smart playlist, it also removes the songs from my iTunes library. So, suddenly, my iTunes library is 10 GB smaller than it used to be. The songs are still sitting in my iTunes Media>Music folder, but I have to manually readd the whole folder to make it find the missing music.



83mjs,


When you are removing songs from a playlist:


Delete removes them from the playlist but leaves them in the library.


Option+Delete (or Shift+Delete on Windows) removes them from the playlist and the library.


So if you do what you are doing but don't use the Option key, it will work. Make a small list to try it out.


Alternatively, you can add a rule to your playlist like "Last Played is not in the last 4 weeks," or similar, which will remove things you have heard and replace them with new. This of course is different from refreshing the whole list.

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How to repopulate a Smart Playlist (live updating)

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