Ratboy

Q: Smart Playlist that Picks X Songs at Random and Only Plays Those Songs

I've got a smart playlist that randomly picks X number of songs based on certain criteria—including whether the song has been played recently. I want to listen to the songs in the playlist and, once the songs have played, for the music to stop and the playlist be refreshed.

 

In the past, I could have a smart playlist pick 30 minutes of music that I could listen to while going to sleep. Now, once a song has been played, it is immediately removed from the top of the playlist and a new song is added to the bottom.

 

How do I recreate the old behavior?

Posted on Sep 21, 2016 9:27 AM

Close

Q: Smart Playlist that Picks X Songs at Random and Only Plays Those Songs

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by Camelot,

    Camelot Camelot Sep 21, 2016 9:34 AM in response to Ratboy
    Level 8 (47,285 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 21, 2016 9:34 AM in response to Ratboy

    Sounds like you are in a little bit of a catch-22.

    The gotcha is that 'recently played' is one of your criteria, so once a track has been played the tracks eligibility changes.

     

    Ostensibly, you can turn off live updating by getting info on your playlist and unchecking the 'Live Updating' box:

    Screen Shot 2016-09-21 at 9.31.45 AM.png

    This will now ignore your 'most recently played' criteria since it's no longer watching what tracks have been played recently. You'd need to manually refresh the playlist by Ctrl-clicking the playlist in the sidebar and selecting 'Update Smart Playlist.

  • by Ratboy,

    Ratboy Ratboy Sep 21, 2016 1:05 PM in response to Camelot
    Level 2 (256 points)
    Apple Music
    Sep 21, 2016 1:05 PM in response to Camelot

    Is there any way to create a smart playlist that doesn't have a fixed set of songs but which also doesn't play endlessly?