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iTunes, iPods, and song play counts Apps
This tip may appeal to a select few out there, but I was thrilled when I put it together and found that it worked. Basically, I like managing my iPod manually without playlists (ie dragging albums, artists, or songs directly to my iPod), yet I wanted to capture all the playcount info from my iPod and push it to my iTunes database, which upon first glance is impossible. Well I figured out a workaround:
  1. Create a new playlist that will act as your synching playlist.
  2. Add all the songs/albums you want on your iPod to that playlist.
  3. Go to the iPod prefs (click the iPod icon in the bottom right of the iTunes window while having the iPod selected in the left pane) and select the checkbox for "Automatically update selected playlists only" and select your new synching playlist.
  4. Force an update if necessary (see notes below).
  5. Next time you re-connect your iPod, it will update your playlist and library with playcount info.
You should be good to go.

Notes: This method will wipe your iPod and reload everything on that playlist, so make sure you have everything backed up/extracted. Also, it appears that if you drag songs to the synch playlist, to get them on the iPod, you then have to force an update either by unplugging and replugging in the iPod, or going to the synch prefs and unchecking/checking the playlist. iTunes doesn't automatically push the tracks.
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iTunes, iPods, and song play counts | 11 comments | Create New Account
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Automatic vs. Manual
Authored by: tc_nyc on May 27, '03 10:29:17AM

I used to use that single playlist update method with my iPod but stopped for one reason.

I have two computers, and I sync my prefs between them when I travel with the PowerBook. My iTunes library exists only on an external FireWire HD at home. When I open iTunes on the PB, add a new song, then try to sync the iPod, sometimes iTunes would freak out that the songs were not available and delete them from the iPod for NO REASON. I would have to come back home to restore the missing songs.

If I use the 'manual' setting this is not a problem, although I miss the play count information.



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iTunes, iPods, and song play counts
Authored by: mike3k on May 27, '03 10:34:46AM

I use a smart playlist that includes every track with 3 or more stars. If I want a song on my iPod, I assign at least 3 stars to it.



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iTunes, iPods, and song play counts
Authored by: seven5 on May 27, '03 10:42:49AM

i was a bit upset that you couldn't use a select few playlists to sync as well as be manual, so this is the exact same solution i came up with.

What i don't like is that when you make a smart playlists that say, selects the songs added in the last 3 weeks, it WILL sync these songs with your iPod. But the playlist then becomes a list of songs added to your iPod in the last 3 weeks, which is usually everything.

This shouldn't happen in my opinion since it is supposed to mimic your desktop. If i were to manually add a smart playlist to my iPod then it should do this. But if the playlist is on my computer, it should give me a list of songs that i have added to iTunes in the last 3 weeks.



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iTunes, iPods, and song play counts
Authored by: anandman on May 27, '03 02:02:38PM

To fix this problem, use "Date Modified" instead of "Date Added" in your smart playlist. It stays correct in both iTunes and the iPod. I'm not sure when "Date Modified" may be different than "Date Added" since all my songs have both dates exactly the same.



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iTunes, iPods, and song play counts
Authored by: AMacAddict on May 27, '03 12:03:07PM

I don't want to sound flip, but isn't the "hint" here just one line?

Only automatic iPod syncs transfer playcount info.



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iTunes, iPods, and song play counts
Authored by: spnyc on May 27, '03 12:22:25PM

automatic ipod sync would be great, if i had less than 10GB of mp3s (i have a 10GB iPod). considering i am now over 400GB i don't think that would work too well for me. so for now the single playlist synch is the only way to go...



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iTunes, iPods, and song play counts
Authored by: foobar104 on May 27, '03 04:14:57PM

Synchronizing a single playist IS an automatic sync.



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Prevents smart playlists
Authored by: gidds on May 27, '03 08:19:08PM
Nice hint.  I'd just spotted that my manual updates weren't keeping play counts, renaming, &c in sync.  Creating an `iPod' playlist and syncing it does the job nicely.

However, it has another problem.  I did have a smart playlist set up on the iPod which selected random tracks to listen to according to a few criteria (not recently played, high enough rating, avoiding some genres).  But if the iPod is synced to iTunes, it can't hold its own playlists!  And I can't tell it to sync with an identical playlist in iTunes, because that selects tracks from the entire music library, not just those on the iPod...

Anyone know a way around this?

---

Andy/

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Prevents smart playlists
Authored by: lavar78 on May 27, '03 11:50:38PM

My workaround involves using a ID3 field I never use (in my case, Composer). If you add something (like "iPod") to each of the Composer fields of your iPod tracks, you can then just add the criterion "Composer is iPod" to all of your smart playlists.

In fact, your iPod playlist could be a smart playlist that only looks for "Composer is iPod." Then you can add songs to your iPod by adding "iPod" to that field.



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Prevents smart playlists
Authored by: gidds on May 28, '03 07:49:02AM

That might work well if your iPod always has the same subset of your music library; mine is likely to change regularly.  And I wouldn't want ID3 tags being rewritten every time... not to mention that I don't have a spare field!

---

Andy/



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iTunes, iPods, and song play counts
Authored by: marook on May 28, '03 10:53:12AM
Also, it appears that if you drag songs to the synch playlist, to get them on the iPod, you then have to force an update either by unplugging and replugging in the iPod, or going to the synch prefs and unchecking/checking the playlist. iTunes doesn't automatically push the tracks.

Well, iTunes have this nice Menu command in the File menu called "Update Songs on iPod" that does exactly what you're missing!

---
/Marook

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