Thoughts, ponderings, reflections.

50 words or less: "thoughts" is the personal blog of Kevin D. Hendricks and has covered writing, pop culture, technology, spirituality and navel-gazing since 1998. Kevin does writing and editing with his company, Monkey Outta Nowhere, and in case you couldn't tell these thoughts reflect his personal views.

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Top 30 Songs for the Last 30 Days?

September 20th, 2006 Posted in Technology

I love looking at number and stats. That’s part of why iTunes is so cool. My top 5 most played songs are:

  1. “All Because of You” by U2

  2. “Vertigo” by U2
  3. “City of Blinding Lights” by U2
  4. “Surf Champion” by Coach Said Not To
  5. “Trolly Wood” by Eisley

Which of course shows my obvious bias for U2. But it also reflects the fact that I listened to “Vertigo” nonstop for an hour and a half the day it came out and the fact that I played How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb on repeat for the first few days after it came out. And it came out two years ago.

So here’s the question, iTunes geeks: How can I set up a smart playlist that will show me the most played X songs in the past X days? I want to see what I’ve been listening to in the last month, not simply since I started using iTunes.

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  1. 6 Responses to “Top 30 Songs for the Last 30 Days?”

  2. By tpy on Sep 20, 2006

    Kevin, I am continually frustrated by the inability of iTunes to let me ‘mix and match’ criteria. I have to follow ‘all’ or ‘any’ rules in a smart playlist. I often want some of each. It would be such an easy fix. They could even hide it somewhere so that iTunes novices don’t get confused. I was hoping the memory-hogging but quite cool 7.0 would include that. Oh, well.

  3. By tpy on Sep 20, 2006

    Oh, yeah. And my top 5 are

    1. Chicago, Sufjan Stevens
    2. We Used to Be Friends, The Dandy Warhols
    3. City of Blinding Lights, U2
    4. Marching Bands of Manhattan, Death Cab for Cutie
    5. Keepin’ It Real, Mason Jennings

    (None of which I have listened to in the last three weeks.) (A quick survey of my top 150 reveals that only 13 have been played in the last three weeks, so I have a similar problem.)

  4. By JL! on Sep 21, 2006

    Kevin, I hear you, and I’m doing what I can. I wish I could say more.

  5. By JL! on Sep 21, 2006

    Oh, wait, I can say more!

    I accidentally erased my statistics in March ‘06 when I transferred from one machine to another (stupid mistake on my part), so my stats are all fresh since March. My top 5 most-played songs are…

    1. “Cubicle” by Rinôçérôse
    2. “E-Pro” by Beck
    3. “Qué Onda Guero” by Beck
    4. “Horn” by Nick Drake
    5. “Parasite” by Nick Drake

    I’m not surprised by the first three. It’s the last two that totally shock me. I can’t even hum #4 in my head right now. What does that mean? Honestly, I think I told iTunes to play Pink Moon and then walked away and accidentally left it playing for a few hours or something. That’s the only way I can explain that. If I remove all Pink Moon entries, my next few are:

    7. “Comfort Eagle” by Cake
    10. “Clap Hands” by Beck
    11. “Feel Good Inc.” by Gorillaz
    13. “Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois” by Sufjan Stevens
    14. “Casimir Pulaski Day” by Sufjan Stevens

    That makes a lot more sense.

    One kinda crappy way to almost accomplish what you’re looking for, Kevin, is to show the 30 most-played tunes that have been played at least once in the last 30 days. That way, any song that has really grown stale to you that you don’t listen to anymore won’t make the list, even if some old favorites that you’ve only heard once recently do sneak in near the top. Not what you wanted, but one step closer.

  6. By tpy on Sep 21, 2006

    I used to have a similar list, Josh. It was ‘Recently Popular’. All songs played in the last two weeks, with at least 5 total plays, with at least a 4-star rating (or something to that effect). But then I would just listen to the stuff I was already listening to even more, which is generally what I am trying to get away from.

  7. By Eddie on Sep 30, 2006

    Kevin, I was just going through your blog and I noticed “Surf Champion” by Coach Said Not Too is in your top 5 played songs!!! That’s awesome! I dance with Eva Mohn, a good friend of mine as well, and I know her sister, Linnea, fairly well too. I was excited to see them on your list! That’s one of my favorite songs by them, too. Have you heard their latest album? Some gems on that one.

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