[Macworld]

Post your comments for iTunes playlists, tags, and track durations here

[Strawtag]

I still use an old AppleScript applet called Playlistbot to add playlists based on the names of folders of audio files dropped onto it. It was released (by Doug as well, I think) as a fully editable AppleScript and when it broke due to some very minor change in iTunes (introduced in version 6, I think), I was able to modify the script, which I can still use even with 11.0.1. I can certainly provide the updated version, if anyone is interested.

[Strawtag]

I should have mentioned that the advantage offered by Playlistbot is that it allows dropping of multiple folders of music files and adds each as a playlist even if they are nested. By that I mean that, for example, if I have a folder bearing an artist's name that contained several folders containing songs of the artist (albums), I can drop the top level folder onto Playlistbot, and each sub folder will be added as a playlist.

[JB2910]

Re sorting classical music, I know we all have our own methods but I don't think playlists are the best way.
iTunes long ago hid the "browse" mode which is worth enabling (under the view menu) as an easier way of sorting your music. Enable composer and genre columns and you'll find it much easier to locate what you're after.
I'm assuming you categorise music using categories such as Classical - Chamber Music - this makes it even easier to get to what you're after.

I've embraced iTunes 11's album view - you can use the view menu to tell iTunes to sort by category rather than album name or artist so all your classical albums will be displayed together. I recommend TuneUp as a way of getting the correct artwork and artist details (by far the best of the various tools out there) and using some of Doug's Applescripts to swap artist and album artist if you prefer to have your albums sorted by composer (as I do rather than conductor.

[johnspear]

The "Grouping" field is also a great place to store keywords for later searching and smart playlists.

[DarthAmbiguous]

Hi Kirk - with the recent iTunes upgrade I've found a number of purchased iTunes Store music tracks have had their play count reset to zero (although a "last played" date is still shown). Is this data still existing somewhere in the file, or has it been erased for good?

On a different note: regarding self-tagging. I use the Grouping section for nationalities (great for Australia Day, St. Patricks Day, etc...). It's surprising how many Icelandic artists I have

I then have the comments field for miscellaneous terms that I would like to search for. This is great for movies & TV shows. While the iTunes Store meta-tags displays the cast in a pretty layout, it's not searchable. So a quick copy-paste from IMDB or Wikipedia gives me a searchable actor / director / writer / whatever field.

[kirkmc]

Quote

Hi Kirk - with the recent iTunes upgrade I've found a number of purchased iTunes Store music tracks have had their play count reset to zero (although a "last played" date is still shown). Is this data still existing somewhere in the file, or has it been erased for good?

I haven't seen play counts set to zero; I have seen the opposite, though. Some of my tracks inherited dozens of additional plays right after iTunes 11 was released and I listened to them on my iPhone. As for getting back the play counts you had before, no, that information is stored as an increment, not as a history.

[correll]

I recently had an issue with iTunes Match and Apple reset my account. On my home MacBook Pro (where all of my music is stored) the Date Added column now shows the date when Apple reset my iTunes Match account. However, on my work MacBook Pro the Date Added column is still correct. I use this for different Smart Playlists. Is there a way to get the original Date Added back?