The intent of this play list is to make the ipod play the tunes I like more, more often.
To start I use all 6 options for my rating – no stars through to 5 stars.
No Stars is used for new items which I have loaded in from my CD collection or from a podcast.
1 star is used for music which is not to be stored on the ipod.
2 stars is used for radio shows which are only to play once.
3 to 5 stars are used for all the music. Music starts off at 3 stars and then if I like the song while listening to it on the ipod I increase the rating. Sometimes I grow weary of songs and decrease the rating.
To do this you need lots of play lists.
First there are 4 smart playlists. I call mine 2 capped, though to 5 capped. They have the following settings:
- my rating is set to the number of stars equal to the play list number.
- play count is less than a number. For 2 capped this number is 1. For the others the number varies over time. I will include a table later of the numeric progression I use.
- The play list is set up to play the lease often played first, though this has no outcome on the final lists below.
- Live updating is on.
- Match is set to all.
I then create two play lists, one which includes the radio shows and one which does not. The play list is made up of the other play lists. 3+ capped is the first playlist.
- playlist (1) is 3 capped
- playlist (2) is 4 capped
- playlist (3) is 5 capped
- Limit to 99,999 songs so you can set the playlist to random.
- Live updating is on.
- Match is set to any.
To create the 3+ radio plat list just add a fourth playlist – 2 capped.
When the songs are playing I will move them up and down in star rating while they are playing. The only thing to consider here is not to use zero and 2 start ratings as they have special meanings. So the songs can slide up or down the scale 1-3-4-5 stars.
There are some drawbacks and side effects of this arrangement.
- It relies on the play lists constantly restarting. This is normally true as I regularly update the podcasts.
- New songs play more often than old ones.
The number sequence I use is below. I increment the numbers from time-to-time to keep a minimum number of songs in the playlist, equal to 1/3 of all my songs. I have shown the first cycle of the sequence. After this it repeats.
2 capped |
3 capped |
4 capped |
5 capped |
---|---|---|---|
1 |
3 |
6 |
12 |
1 |
3 |
6 |
13 |
1 |
3 |
6 |
14 |
1 |
3 |
7 |
14 |
1 |
3 |
7 |
15 |
1 |
3 |
7 |
16 |
1 |
3 |
8 |
16 |
1 |
4 |
8 |
16 |