iTunes Question - Date CREATED

[Patch]

I'm trying to create some smart playlists - I really want to be able to sort on the date the actual .mp3 file was created.

It looks to me like iTunes can only sort on "Date Modified" or "Date Added". These are terms that iTunes writes to the iTunes library, and are not dates associated with the actual .mp3 file.

Anyone got any ideas? I'm really worried that my music cllection is destined to never be sorted by "Date Created"...

[papo]

I have a solution, but do you use a Mac or PC?

[Patch]

Ah - I use a PC...

I've seen a few potential solutions online, but they're all Mac only...

[papo]

Ok. I ask, because I have two different methods. (One for PC and one of Mac)

I use MP3Tag for all my tagging. ( I actually run Parallels on my Mac just to be able to run this program which is developed for PC only.)

Anyways, you can create an action that will batch write the file's creation date to an iTunes supported ID3 field, such as "Sort Name" as an example.

Then you can create Smart Playlist off of that field. The only down side is that iTunes does not treat this field as a date field when it comes to selecting criteria for the smart playlists rules. For example, it will not have "is before", "is after", "greater than x days/moths/years".

As a work around, you can create your rules like "starts with 2013-04.." for the your April 2013 songs.

Download MP3Tag and I can walk you through really quick. This action is quite easy.

[Patch]

Thanks! I already use MP3Tag!!!

Could you do a quick write up how to do that?

P.S - I understand what you're saying about an ID3 Field such as "Sort Name", but is there a way to write it to an iTunes DATE field (maybe Date Modified?) so that sorting in Smart Playlists will be possible???

[papo]

Sure, I'll write a quick write up for that action. I am heading out for lunch, I'll type it up when I get back.

As far as using the iTunes Date Modified, it uses this field off of the filesystem attributes, and will change the next time you "modify" the track. I wouldn't mess with that field anyway.

I would start of by using the Title Sort field and see if you can make the rules you need like that.


Can you tell me how yo uplan on setting up your smart playlists and how you are thinking of sorting them? 1 playlist for each week/month/year?

[Patch]

I was originally just going to have a playlist for tracks that I had downloaded/created i the previous month. But It sounds like I might need to create a new playlist each month for that.

Not a problem.

[papo]

I was looking into the Release Date field in iTunes, which is a date field, but unfortunately "Release Date" is not a criteria selection in the Smart playlist section.

It looks like you are going to need to use the "Sort Title" method.

Let's start off by adding the "Sort Title" column in MP3Tag, so it is visible.
Right Click on Column Headers, select “Customize Columns”, then click “New”.

Name: Give it a name. (I name it the same as what iTunes names it, so it is easier for me to identify, but you can give it whatever name you’d like.)

Value: %titlesort%
Field: %titlesort%



Then, click “OK”

You should now see the “Sort Name” field as a column.




Select or Drag two or three test tracks to MP3Tag, so we can create an action. (I would maybe copy the two or three audio files into a new folder on your desktop, so you don’t mess with your originals until created and tested the action. This way, if you accidentally screw something up, you can just delete the files and copy from the originals again.)

After you dragged them into MP3Tag, highlight them and then go to Actions in the top menu bar.



You should get this dialog box:




Click the icon with a little star to create a new action and give it a name.




Then Click on the little icon with a star again and select “Format Value” from the dropdown.



Then click OK:
Eneter the following info:

Field: TITLESORT
Format String: %_file_create_datetime%





….and click ok and close out the rest of the dialog boxes, returning to the main view.

Now go back to Actions, and you should see your new action available from the dropdown.




Once you select the action your just created, it will run it and add the file creation time to that column.




Refresh the track in iTunes and you should now see the date.



Done!

[papo]

Hope this helps!

[Patch]

It absolutely does. Many thanks, papo. Much appreciated!