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User profile for user: DesignThinking
DesignThinking Author
User level: Level 1
21 points

What EXACTLY does 'Kind' mean in Smart Playlists?

Can anyone tell me what terms does 'Kind' require to actually work in a Smart Playlist? I have tried "Song"; "Audio"; "Movie"; and "Show" which all fail (resulting in empty Smart Playlists). I am experiencing the common "iFrustration" that increasingly appears to be designed into the Apple user experience.


A support page containing all the valid variables / terms for use in iTunes Smart Playlists would, I guess, perhaps be deemed by Apple as verging on a manual—and so 'a bad thing'.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Nov 24, 2015 2:48 PM

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User profile for user: hhgttg27
hhgttg27
User level: Level 5
5,591 points

Posted on Nov 25, 2015 1:11 PM

The Kind field indicates the encoding of media files, with typical values (for audio files) being:


  • "MPEG audio file" for MP3 files
  • "AAC audio file" for AAC files created by importing from CD, conversion from other formats, etc.
  • "Purchased AAC audio file" for AAC files acquired from the iTunes Store (AFAIR older purchases that have DRM will show "Protected AAC audio file")
  • "Apple Lossless audio file" for ALAC files
  • "Audible file" for audiobooks purchased from Amazon/Audible
  • etc.


To see which values are valid for your library select Songs view (or equivalent for other media types) and enable the Kind column - sorting on this column with then allow you to scroll through to see which values are present.

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User profile for user: hhgttg27
hhgttg27
User level: Level 5
5,591 points

Nov 25, 2015 1:11 PM in response to DesignThinking

The Kind field indicates the encoding of media files, with typical values (for audio files) being:


  • "MPEG audio file" for MP3 files
  • "AAC audio file" for AAC files created by importing from CD, conversion from other formats, etc.
  • "Purchased AAC audio file" for AAC files acquired from the iTunes Store (AFAIR older purchases that have DRM will show "Protected AAC audio file")
  • "Apple Lossless audio file" for ALAC files
  • "Audible file" for audiobooks purchased from Amazon/Audible
  • etc.


To see which values are valid for your library select Songs view (or equivalent for other media types) and enable the Kind column - sorting on this column with then allow you to scroll through to see which values are present.

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What EXACTLY does 'Kind' mean in Smart Playlists?

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