The iPod and Really Smart Random Playlists

  Ok, so I heard tell of this neat idea and finally got around to trying it! What, the hell, you say, am I talking about? Well, this is what the hell. How to make a good random playlist, or more specifically, how to make a good "random" playlist. Here's how!

1. Figure out what criteria you never want to listen to in a random playlist. For me, this is genre, "is not Comedy." Then there is genre, "is not Data" like if you have a iTrip or keep Data tracks from CDs in your Library. Oh and don’t forget that when you are rocking out in the car, you’re not going to be able watch the last episode of Lost so, don’t forget to filter movies out too. I do this with, "Category is not mov." I also always check the box to match only checked songs.


2. Ok, now for the repetitive part, use those criteria above and make five or six playlists, since you cannot copy play lists without hacking the library xml I just did this through iTunes. You should match all rules.


3. To each of those playlists created above add a criteria to match your rating from none to five stars. It is important to add the playlist for zero stars or else this will never pick up the songs you just added which are not rated.


4. To each of those playlists created above add a criteria specifying "Last Played is not in the last N days" where "N" is inversely proportional to the rating. So, for me, this means that my rating equals zero songs, only get played every 150 days, while songs with a rating of four get played every 15 days.


5. Now, the final step make your master smart play list by adding a criteria for each rating play list you created above like "Playlist is List Zero." This playlist should be set to match any of the following rules or you will not match any songs, oops!


6. Proceed to rock out!

  Now, you will still hear things in your library that you might have forgotten about which are entertaining every once in a while. While still getting to hear that current favorite song without wearing it out.

Some stats:
My old random play list had:
3372 Songs
2296 With no rating
818 With 1 star
236 with 2 stars
22 with 3 stars
0 with 4 stars
0 with 5 stars

My new random play list has:
1923 Songs
695 songs with no rating
818 songs with 1 star
349 songs with 2 stars
61 songs with 3 stars
0 with 4 stars
0 with 5 stars

  As you can see, things are weighted a bit more towards the higher ranked songs. Interestingly, they both pick up the same number of one star songs. And OK, so it's true I don’t just hand out four or five stars, but they are in there, I swear! I am much happier about this playlist configuration and have been grooving for the last hour or so, much more than normal and to what you ask, why... 

Artist, Album, Song, Last Played, My Rating
1. Underworld, Everything, Everything (Live), Juanita / Kiteless, 11/30/2005 15:24, 3
2. Modest Mouse, The Lonesome Crowded West, Truckers Atlas, 10/5/2005 12:16, 1
3. Sigur Rós, Ágætis Byrjun, Svefn-G-Englar, 10/6/2005 17:59, 1
4. Static X, Wisconson Death Trip, Stem, 8/29/2005 18:56,
5. James Brown, Star Time - Disc 3 - Soul Brother No. 1, Hot Pants, Part 1, 8/29/2005 10:56,
6. Thievery Corporation, DJ-Kicks, Bobby Matos / Guiro Electro (Rainer Trüby Trio Remix), 9/4/2005 17:56, 1
7. The Who, Quadrophenia, Love Reign O'er Me, 10/12/2005 17:44, 2
8. Fantastic Plastic Machine, The Fantastic Plastic Machine, Dear Mr. Salesman, 7/30/2005 11:42, 1
9. Squeeze, Singles - 45's And Under, Cool For Cats, ,
10. Tom Waits, Small Change, Step Right Up, 12/6/2005 17:28, 3
11. Underworld, Soundtrack Hackers, Cowgirl, 9/27/2005 14:16, 2
12. RJD2, Since We Last Spoke, Iced Lightning, 10/16/2005 12:22, 1
13. Anime, ?, Anime - Slayers - Theme, 9/8/2005 13:35, 1
14. Siouxsie & The Banshees, Twice Upon A Time - The Singles, Candyman, 10/26/2005 10:50, 1
15. Gorillaz, Gorillaz, Left Hand Suzuki Method, 8/26/2005 20:23, 1
16. Oumou Sangare, Trance Planet, Volume 3, Saa Magni, 10/17/2005 17:21, 1
17. The The, Infected, Sweet Bird Of Truth, 12/13/2005 13:12, 3
18. New Order, Retro: Club, Fine Time (Steve "Silk" Hurley Mix), 9/5/2005 21:54,
19. Dave Matthews, , Crash Into Me, 10/26/2005 15:28, 1
20. The Shamen, En-Tact, 666 Edit, 8/19/2005 17:48, 1
21. Modest Mouse, Interstate 8, Whenever I Breathe Out (Positive Negative), 8/30/2005 14:30,
22. Portishead, Numb, A Tribute To Monk & Canatella, 11/28/2005 14:08, 2
23. Camper Van Beethoven, Key Lime Pie, Come On Darkness, 9/4/2005 18:03,
24. Fantastic Plastic Machine, Luxury, The Girl Next Door, 9/3/2005 13:59,
25. Radio4, Stealing of a Nation, Absolute Affirmation (Tom Middleton's Cosmos Dub Mix), 10/31/2005 13:18, 2