While there are a ton of conveniences to having a digital library of music, one of the downsides is forgetting what is in that library.
Last time I looked at my iTunes I had over 30,000 songs and when you combine that amount of music with an ageing memory you just know there are whole albums sitting in there that you just never knew you had.
So how so you go mining for hidden iTune gold?
Let me introduce you the to wonderful world of ‘Smart Playlists’.
Most of us can create a normal playlist… ‘my fav driving tunes‘, ‘songs to clean the house to‘, etc, etc. And some of us may have noticed the little folder called ‘Smart Playlists’ in the lefthand sidebar of iTunes.
Smart playlists (indicated by a gear icon) contain songs based on the rules the Smart Playlists have been programmed with. Several examples already come with iTunes like Top Rated, Recently Added, and Top 25 Most Played, and you can create additional ones yourself.
Follow the instructions below and I’ll show you how to create a Smart Playlist that will show all the songs that have never been played in your iTunes library.
1: Create a New Smart Playlist
2: Add Rules To The New Smart Playlist
Click on Artist and choose Playlist from the drop down menu.
Click on contains and choose is from the drop down menu.
Choose Music from the drop down menu.
Click on + to create a new rule.
Click on Artist and choose Plays from the drop down menu.
Click on contains and choose is from the drop down menu.
Enter 0 into the blank text field.
Click on + to create a new rule.
Click on Artist and choose Time from the drop down menu.
Click on contains and choose is greater than from the drop down menu.
Enter 1:00 into the blank text field.
Click on + to create a new rule.
3: Save and Name New Smart Playlist
Your new smart playlist should look like the pic below.
Click OK button to save the Smart Playlist.
Name the Smart Playlist in the top left hand corner.
4: Click On New Smart Playlist
Click On New Smart Playlist in the left sidebar of iTunes.
Any song in that list has never been played by iTunes.
Once a song has been played it will disappear off the list.
note: a song has to play for the complete length of the song for iTunes to recognise it as played