Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with playlist

Playlist on iTunes and iPhone have different songs.

You Should See the Other Guy — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:27:01 -0800

I have a smart Playlist on my iTunes which functions properly and has all the right tracks in it. I have it checked as a Playlist to export to my iPhone. The iPhone has a playlist with exactly the same name ... but completely different songs. I've double checked that I don't have two playlists with the same name in iTunes. Not just one track is different--none of the tracks overlap. Why is this happening? So far, I've tried:

- resetting to factory settings
- rebooting the phone
- deleting the playlist, synching, recreating the playlist, and resynching

Nothing works. It's driving me nuts. WTF?!

HELP! Need Wedding Playlist!!

madmamasmith — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 01:35:50 -0800

HELP! I am (was) using my ipod instead of a DJ for my wedding that is in 10 days and it just CRASHED! It synched to my computer without warning and now all my wedding playlists are GONE! I'm a dope and only very recently started using an external hard drive...long story short I need help to rebuild my wedding playlists. With the stress of the wedding planning I cant even remember to poop, let alone the collection of music ive been building for years!! I would appreciate ANY and ALL recommendations but I need the most help with the dance portion. I love all kinds of music from all eras and I want to make sure there are some dance hits from my school days ie TLC, SWV etc but I also want to play some newer hits and I am suffering serious brain fart. I'm also 6 months pregnant so I have baby brain as they say.

So far my playlists are thus (in a nutshell)

Preceremony/seating:

sun kil moon, joni mitchell, elvis, alasdair roberts, some instrumental stuff etc., peter gabriel

Dinner/Cocktail:

cocteau twins, yo la tango, van morrison, fleetwood mac, sufjan stevens, nina simone, otis redding, nuetral milk hotel

Dancing:

MGMT, MIA, Soldia Boy, JAson Derulo, Kool & the gang, outkast, madonna, pssion pit, cure, aha, TI, iggy pop, peter bjorn and john, daftpunk, the knife, george michael.......

Music-fu to the rescue

notashroom — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:43:44 -0800

PlaylistFilter: I like themed playlists, partly because I have broad taste and they help me link together songs from disparate genres and partly because I can play a playlist or CD that suits a given mood or situation. Help me build a love-themed playlist and find resources for good themed playlists? First, right now I'm looking to build a playlist around a theme of loving acceptance, along the lines of "Just the Way You Are", "My Baby Loves Me (Just the Way That I Am)", and "Close Enough to Perfect". Can you suggest songs that fit this theme, in any genre, of any artist (only or primarily English for vocals, please)?

Second, do you know any good websites featuring themed playlists or with a significant number of them in an easily navigable/searchable format? I remember a post (not sure if it was blue or green, and searching failed me) with a site that was at the time featuring summer-themed playlists, complete with downloadable music and "album" covers. Something like that would be excellent, but just theme, song title, and artist would be enough if the lists were good and navigation usable.

I've seen a million faces

Potomac Avenue — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:27:36 -0800

What are some good songs about being on tour? My band's tour is coming to an end and I'd like to make a goodbye mix for all the crew and other bands we've been rolling with for the past month+.

They could be classic (American band, various zepplin), obscure (humble pie's 30 Days In The Hole [my personal favorite]) or modern (living legends' Creative Differences). They don't have to entirely be about touring as long as at least one verse or so specifically talks about life on the road as a musician.

TIA

playlist to podcast

bonsai forest — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:02:53 -0800

I want to turn multiple song iTunes playlists into single mp3 files that preserve the way iTunes crossfades between songs. I would happily pay for a solution that offers quality and ease. I am on a Mac OS running 10.5.8. Also looking for a good online tutorial for turning a file like this into a podcast.

Currently Playing: with rss feeds...

twine42 — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 07:19:23 -0800

I've been thinking about updating a site I built that keeps a log of songs different radio stations are playing. To help me update it, please tell me what your favourite major or national level radio station is. Bonus marks if you know they release their "recently played" list as an rss feed. For the UKers out there, 'major/national' would mean things like BBC, Absolute, and various major DAB broadcasters. I'm not meaning people like Hertbeat whose transmitter is powered by AA batteries.

For the rest of the world - well, frankly I have no idea what stations are major and what aren't, so anything is welcome - especially if they broadcast on the internet as well...

( All comers welcome. At the moment it's only tracking BBC1, 2 & 6, Chill, the Absolute stations and NME. )

Playlists won't stay random after transfer to iPod

friarjohn — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:32:43 -0800

Playlists set to random in iTunes won't stay random on my iPod. How can I fix this? [searched around and didn't see this exact issue addressed]

I've built a couple playlists (one smart, one regular) for my 5th Gen 30GB Video iPod and set them to random in iTunes. After I sync and disconnect my iPod the playlists are no longer in random order. They are in alphabetical order by album. In Settings, Shuffle is currently set to songs.

This hasn't always been a problem. It just cropped up recently, but I don't normally use a lot of playlists as I mostly listen to podcasts and audiobooks and just shuffle all songs when I want music.

What setting am I missing?

Phasing that leaves you happy?

Mizu — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:44:51 -0800

Modern Minimalist Orchestral Music Filter: Could you help me find music similar in mood and sound to a particular piece by Yoko Kanno? "Twinkle" on the Macross Frontier O.S.T.1 is beautiful and I want more! I'm a fan of Steve Reich and phasing already, but "Twinkle" has a sort of gentler, uplifting feel that I absolutely adore. Last time I tried Pandora, it wasn't so great with classical music, and I don't have any friends who share my taste. So I turn to you, dear Metafilter!

Ulterior motive: I'm about to embark on my first NaNoWriMo, but before that I have about 16 hours of airplane ride to deal with. So I'm looking for many, many hours of music, if possible, with no English lyrics, although other languages would be okay, as long as it isn't too distracting from the process of writing. Hopefully I can compose some epic uplifting and mellow playlists to carry me to and from my stressful destination, and then inspire me to keep writing.

Other than almost anything Yoko Kanno touches, I'm a fan of Ravel, Elvis Costello, Sondre Lerche, E.L.O., April March, Anamanaguchi, Kool & the Gang, Jon Brion, Justice, Frou Frou, and what snobby eclectic girl would be happy without Bjork? I have an extreme soft spot for string instruments and piano. If any of that helps you, I thank you. I'm open to practically anything, if it has the same mood as "Twinkle", or pairs well with it, or is a logical next step.

Thank you in advance!

Playlist for checking out steroes

StimulatingPixels — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:50:07 -0800

What are the best (or your favorite) songs to use when checking out stereo systems? I'm setting up a list of songs that can be used to checkout/show-off a stereo system. The main goal is to use them while hunting a new stereo system so that I can have a consistent set of examples that highlight different audio characteristics.

Crisp highs, full lows, clean vocals, extended volume and tonal ranges, live recordings, electronically produced elements, etc... Any genre is fine, but if you have recommendations for classical, please include the specific performance/recording since that has such a huge influence on the quality.

(Looks like there are some good answers via this question but it's focused more on headphones.)

Help me to avoid brain damage from random songs on shuffle!

arniec — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 12:48:30 -0800

Help me iTunes Playlist Gurus to figure out a killer set of manual playlists for my 20,000+ song library I am taking on a daunting task...rating all twenty-some-thousand songs in my iTunes library. I expect this process to actually take me a few hours a week for a year or more

But as I'm manually touching every song in my iTunes library, validating ID3 tags, covers, etc. I'd also like to arrange playlists. My problem is, I'm not sure how to do that.

My music spans all genres: classical, country, hip-hop, gangsta rap, hard rock, folk, blues, and so on. And I'm trying to make sure the genre tag fits as best as possible (though of course there are genre-crossing artists and songs).

But more, the way I like to listen to music is dependent upon the activity. For work, I like more downtempo music. For trips, I like more upbeat music. For working out I like highly rythmic dance club type songs.

Other than tagging some specific songs for each of those 3 items, I'm not sure how I can most effectively partition my collection. Sure, smart playlists by star rankings will help to filter out songs I like less than others, but I'm sure there must be some playlist ninja skills that I am lacking.

What can I do to make these playlists ultra helpful and useful?

(and the title is a reference to this old 2004 article: http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/04/16/1623202 )

This is my (zombie killing) jam!

heavenstobetsy — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:49:36 -0800

So you're fighting zombies. What are you listening to? We just saw Zombieland and got to thinking, what would be the best zombie-ass-kicking playlist? We've thought of RATM, NIN, Rob Zombie (natch), but we're wondering...What songs might make you want to kick (zombie) ass, or otherwise energize you in such a situation?

Zombie theme is not mandatory, songs/artists which may inspire feelings of just general ass kickery and bad assedness also appreciated.

We on da grind, in Flo'ida slangin' signs...

Methylviolet — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 23:24:05 -0800

Music recommendation request: My son got a job waving a sign at passing cars for six hours a day, six days a week. Help his life suck less. My 17-year-old son needs more music. Can you suggest:

Waving-a-sign-at-passing-cars theme songs
Florida theme songs, or
Other?

Theme music would be great, but anything you love (or hate) and think he might love would be much appreciated, too.

He basically likes music he can dance to or play on the guitar that isn't lame -- unless it is transcendentally lame, then he likes it. He seems to like music he can physically engage with... and that isn't what the kids he knows are listening to, because it's obscure or because it's utter pop schlock -- same to him. Based on the music below, can you suggest more?

Thanks for your help!

Artists he has loved:

Matt Costa
Leftover Crack/Choking Victim
Amy Winehouse
Tokyo Police Club
Sukhshinder Shinda
Operation Ivy
Santogold
The Clash
Streetlight Manifesto
Hard Kaur
Nas
Smokey Robinson and the Miracles
The Supremes
The Distillers

Songs he has loved:

Can't Speak French by Girls Aloud
Fascination by Alphabeat
Pretty OK by The Wrens
Emerge Adult Remix by Adult/Fisherspooner
I'm Yours by Jason Mraz?
Your Mangled Heart by the Gossip
RDB Theme by RDB
Fuck You by Lily Allen
Game of Pricks by Guided by Voices
Destroy Everything You Touch by Ladytron
Standing on the Verge of Getting it On by Funkadelic
Slow Motion by Juvenile Soulja Slim
On Da Grind by Ghetto Mafia
Bad Babysitter by Princess Superstar
Build God, Then We'll Talk by Panic at the Disco
The Aeroplane Over the Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel

Let the guest pick the music before the party

bleucube — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:58:39 -0800

Have party guests build music playlist prior to party online. Is there such a site? My sister is throwing a huge party and would prefer to have people submit their music playlist ideas prior to the party. It would be nice if she can sign up for a service (free) like evite and have people login to suggest a playlist. There service must exist somewhere on the interwebs but my googling isn't getting me anywhere.

Sending our clawed little crustaceans off in style...

Ham_On_Rye — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 08:35:54 -0800

Suggestions on funny/clever/good songs to use when compiling a soundtrack for a lobster boil? I have no idea what started it, but my friends and I are going to be boiling up some tasty lobster tonight, and I want to have a good soundtrack to go along with it.

So far, I have the obvious Rock Lobster by the B-52s, and the following others (some a bit silly, some a bit morbid):
1) Killing Me Softly by Roberta Flack
2) Splish Splash by Bobby Darin

Any other ideas?

Thanks!

That boy needs therapy

benzenedream — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 10:34:19 -0800

What are some of your favorite obscure electronic music singles? I'm looking for the kind of stuff where an otherwise unremarkable or unrecognized artist managed to release one perfect song. I am not interested in one-hit wonders as Wikipedia defines it -- I don't care if the song was ever popular or a club hit, just that it's good and interesting. Songs that creep onto your playlists despite not knowing or liking anything else by the same band are what I'm looking for, perhaps an excellent remix that managed to redeem a weak song. I tend towards artists such as Negativland, Lionrock, Aphex Twin, Prefuse 73, Amon Tobin, Girl Talk, DNTEL, Autechre, Avalanches, Jason Forrest, etc. but am looking for stuff far off the Pandora similarity radar.

iAm so smrt

vernondalhart — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:51:04 -0800

Is there a way to use the Genius feature on my 80 GB Ipod Classic? From skimming around the internet, I get conflicting year-old rumours stating that the genius feature will/has been added to 80 GB ipods, but it doesn't seem to be an option on mine, updated as it is. So I assume that's not true.

Now, I've sen suggestions that you simply use the Genius feature on iTunes normally, then copy the playlist over to the ipod. Which would be fine, except for the fact that my iPod is my music library. Other than copying all 72 GB back onto my 80 GB laptop, running the genius update so that I can make a few playlists at my convenience, is there any reasonable way about this? Or am I pretty much out of luck until I end up buying a newer iPod?

Samsung S3 playlist problem

flibbertigibbet — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:58:20 -0800

I bought a Samsung S3 mp3 player for the specific purpose of studying sets of mp3s that need to be played in a specific order. Problem: it doesn't seem to want me to play those songs in order. I can create and organize playlists on the computer, and have no problem.

But, when I import them to the device, the songs on the playlist get sorted by name, instead of staying in the correct order.

I cannot figure out how to force the songs on the playlist to play in order, sort of manually renaming hundreds of mp3s. Can anyone help? I feel like there's some really simple solution.

Shuffle is not on. The actual list of songs on the mp3 player is arranged by mp3 file name, not in the correct order.

How do I turn a text file list of artist & song titles into an iTunes playlist?

mabelstreet — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:22:01 -0800

A friend just posted a list of well-nigh every song they played at the dance club we went to as teenagers, exported from his iTunes. I'd love to somehow be able to have that as a playlist in my iTunes, so I could listen to the collection (at least those in the list that I have on my computer). Already checked this AskMe response, but it doesn't really answer. If there's some better way (e.g. if iTunes has some kind of "send a playlist" option that I don't know about), please tell me that. Thanks!

Stop making the eyes at me and I'll stop making the eyes at you

prufrock — Fri, 08 May 2009 12:19:35 -0800

I need recommendations for songs for walking. I've recently discovered the joys of going on long walks by the river. And my playlist is definitely heavier on the metal side(no pun intended etc).

What I've found is listening to grunts and growls or generally melancholic lyrics while going on a pleasant walk I develop a sullen facial expression and colours the outlook of whatever I experience. I'd like to be all joy and jollity while enjoying the late New England spring. While walking, at least.

Anyway, I'd like to ask for your recommendations on music that you might listen to yourselves while walking. Or music that you think might fit my criteria.

-Fast tempo. Not insanely fast or anything, but not a ballad either.
-Sort of uppity and mood boosting.
-Relatively short. ~3 mins. Not a hard limit.
-No electronic/synthpop. Can't stand it.
-Also, any song that might reference/celebrate the notion of eye contact with a pretty girl

That's it.

Here's what I've find myself enjoying and would like to discover more of the same.

Arctic Monkeys - I bet you look good on the dance floor
Stone Roses - Waterfall
The Clash - London Calling
Collective Soul - December
Oasis - The Importance of Being Idle
Blur - Country House/Charmless Man
Pearl Jam - Do the Evolution
Wolfmother - Joker & the Thief
The Crystal Method - Born too slow
That Dead Like Me song
Led Zeppelin - Dancing Days
Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen in Love

Thank you.

What music keeps you going and going and going asking for another hill to come?

mathiu — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 09:20:28 -0800

[exhausted-athlete-music-filter] What songs will carry you up any hill? I am part of a university sports team that is to compete in a one day, 18 leg, relay race over 45 minute distances in running/inline-skating/street-biking and mountain-biking.

I am in the process of pimping our tour bus with a sound system. I hope that music will lift our athletes' up-hill spirits throughout their gigs.

What music keeps you going and going and going asking for another hill to come?

Smarten up my iTunes

Bango Skank — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:07:22 -0800

My iTunes recently crashed and while I managed to save all my music my playlists seem to be gone for good. So I am starting from scratch rebuilding all my smart playlists and I want your help. What are the best uses you have found for Smart playlists? What playlists are your favorites? Specific examples of the criteria you used to create them will be appreciated (ie show your work.) About 60 percent of my tracks have ratings (I have already built a "Not Rated" playlist to aggregate music that still needs to be rated,) almost all of them have genres assigned, and the rest of my tags are solid so pretty much all fields can be used. I am especially fond of playlists that give me a good rotation of music when I sync the iPhone.

Also if there are any good web resources that cover this topic I would be interested in them as well.

New baby playlist filter

Slarty Bartfast — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:10:11 -0800

Imminently arriving new baby playlist: I'm looking for songs appropriate for parents dealing with their first child's birth any day now. This is primarily for the parents' listening, not necessarily the baby's. Music has always helped me deal with my own anxiety and uncertainty, as well as inspire my own song writing. In addition to babies and children, themes might include growing older, family, uncertainty, new life, and hope. Some off-the-cuff examples are Iron & Wine's Naked As We Came, Hendrix's Little Wing. I'd like to avoid the Martina McBride level of cheese. Oh yeah, it's a boy

Accessible playlists

miss_scarlett — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 12:46:22 -0800

How would one go about creating a playlist akin to a mixtape (ie with specifically ordered songs), to share with a friend via thumb drive/zip file? I know this is possible using iTunes, but what if the recipient doesn't use iTunes?

I want to make a universally accessible playlist, which can be 'zipped' together with notes and images...Is there a software program that will do this for me? Some way I can attach data or formatting to a list of individual files?

'After Midnight' actually plays after midnight.

chocolate_butch — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 08:39:59 -0800

Is there a playlist creator that will show what TIME a song will be played? I trying to create a playlist, and given a time that the play list starts, show what time a song will be played? Anyone know if software like this exists?

Something like this:
Start time 7:00
7:00:00 Track1 3:15
7:03:15 Track2 4:00
7:07:15 Track3 2:30
7:09:45 Track 4 etc...

I would also be OK with something that indicated the cumulative time of a playlist at any given point in the sequence.

I looking to create an unattended party mix, with certain songs hitting at certain times.

Bonus Points if this can be integrated with Windows Media 11 since that is the media server for my PS3 which will actually be playing the playlist.

How should I choose and enjoy music for my workday?

davebush — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 12:43:02 -0800

How should I choose and enjoy music for my workday? I work at home, at a desk for many hours each day. I have a giant collection of CDs and MP3s that I listen to all day. I don't like shuffled music, I prefer what I call "long listening" - one artist (album by album) or genre all day. A typical day would see me loading up an 8 hour playlist of Pete Namlook or Steve Roach.

My problem is that I'm always thinking "is this the most satisfying thing I can listen to right now?" I often feel like I have too much music and that I'd enjoy it more if I only had 50 CD's. I need help feeling content with whatever I choose to listen to, almost to the point of using a system. Although using shuffle might seem like a logical solution, I really want my music to sustain a somewhat singular mood for the entire day. Any ideas?

I realize this might seem like a trivial thing, but it really does nag at me.