iTunes Smart Playlists: Rediscovering Your Library

A large music library is a headache. iTunes Smart Playlists are the perfect tool to navigate through your music and rediscover old favorites.



Open iTunes, click File -> New Smart Playlist.
Or, simply hit Ctrl+Alt+N.

A near-infinite number of options are possible. Smart Playlists search within existing tag information in your library. In the example below, iTunes will show me 25 folk songs in my library that came out in the 90's.




Smart Playlists also allow you to be selective about how long songs are. You can keep your playlists free of pesky short tracks and extra-long songs, too. You could, in theory, make a Smart Playlist of incredibly long songs or incredibly short songs.



Perhaps you are trying to make a mix for an audio CD and you are also an audiophile like me:



Lastly, if you've been looking for music in your library that you've neglected, use the 'play count' qualifier. A song's Play Count is increased each time a song is finished. So by simply selecting "Play Count is zero" you are telling iTunes to select from all the songs in your library that you haven't listened to.




There is much fun to be had with iTunes Smart Playlists. You might find that setting up criteria for auto-playlists is just as fun as making your own mixes.