Adding non-music albums; creating a playlist with all Music albums.

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Adding non-music albums; creating a playlist with all Music albums.

I have non-music content (35 albums of railroad sounds recorded from vinyl LPs) I want to add to iTunes, and my iPod Touch. I don't want these 35 albums to show as Music, but I do want them, and later updates, to sync with my iPod. To block them from the Music view, I want to use only playlists, and have a playlist with all my Music albums, but not these 35 audio albums. Then also have a playlist of just these 35 audio albums.

How can I create a playlist of all my Music albums?

Using iTunes 12 and iPod Touch 5th gen.

iPod touch, Windows 7

Posted on Aug 29, 2015 4:53 PM

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Answer 1

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hhgttg27

Level 5

5,591 points

Aug 29, 2015 7:58 PM in response to Don Strack

You can use Smart Playlists for this:

Set the Genre field for all the railroad sounds LPs to (e.g.) "Railroad Sounds"
Create a Smart Playlist whose membership rules are Playlist is Music and Genre is Railroad Sounds
Create a second Smart Playlist whose membership rules are Playlist is Music and Genre is not Railroad Sounds

The first playlist will only include the sound effects LPs, the second one will contain everything else in your library

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Answer 2

Don Strack Author

Level 1

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Aug 30, 2015 4:40 AM in response to hhgttg27

After a chat with Apple Support, I learned that I cannot hide the 35 audio albums from the My Music library. They suggested a single Music playlist, and a single playlist for just the railroad sounds. I created the new All Music playlist, and dragged all Music over to it (12,000+ songs). I then created RR Audio playlist, and dragged the 35 albums to it (600 "songs").

Seems to have worked, with the understanding that in order to not see the railroad sounds, I am forced to only use the All Music playlist. Whenever I view the main My Music tab, the railroad sounds will always be shown, mixed in with all the music, because the album names are not unique. I have worked real hard to ensure all albums have complete metadata and album art.

What are the differences, and advantages of (in this case) regular playlists vs. smart playlists?

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Answer 3

ed2345

Level 9

62,486 points

Aug 30, 2015 6:44 AM in response to Don Strack

What are the differences, and advantages of (in this case) regular playlists vs. smart playlists?

If you add a new track with the genre "Railroad Sounds" to your library, the track will get automatically picked up by the Smart Playlist. It will not go into the regular playlist unless you manually add it. That is why HH recommends the Smart Playlist.

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