I love looking at number and stats. That’s part of why iTunes is so cool. My top 5 most played songs are:
- “All Because of You” by U2
- “Vertigo” by U2
- “City of Blinding Lights” by U2
- “Surf Champion” by Coach Said Not To
- “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.
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.
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.)
Kevin, I hear you, and I’m doing what I can. I wish I could say more.
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.
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.
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.