Itunes Playlists In 2011 Edge?

[Dreamss]

Good morning!

 

From what I've gathered on this forum, the only way for me to import play lists currently on my itunes and listen to them in my 2011 Edge would be to convert them into M3U files?

 

I did some reading on this forum and the only person who mentioned that they had done it was Tonya and I'm looking to get either a response from herself or anyone else on how to do this please.

 

For starters, I searched Google and found a bunch of sites that seem like they can do this, however not sure how many are authentic sites (meaning no virus after downloading the software). The most popular seems to be EricDaugherty.com which is mentioned on multiple sites.

 

I was curious to see (for those of you who have done this), which program you downloaded and if it worked well and was easy to use?

 

Any write ups on making M3U files would be really helpfull!

 

My main goal is to set up various play lists for different music styles (including my 2 year olds fav music lol) and be able to play just those play lists on demand. For those of you who have also done this, can you tell me if these play lists will actually play the music in the exact order I set them in and not like the default settings in the Edge which is by song title? I don't want my music to play by song title, song number, or artist name, I want it in the order I set it up to play in.

 

Again, some people tell me to simply call it up with the voice command, I've tried and it catches about half (if not less) of the artists I want to listen to, forget about asking for the song title, it's even worst.

 

Thanks for all the help and hopefully I can make some M3U's this weekend!!!

 

Tony

Edited March 4, 2011 by Dreamss

[akirby]

Good morning!

 

From what I've gathered on this forum, the only way for me to import play lists currently on my itunes and listen to them in my 2011 Edge would be to convert them into M3U files?

 

I did some reading on this forum and the only person who mentioned that they had done it was Tonya and I'm looking to get either a response from herself or anyone else on how to do this please.

 

For starters, I searched Google and found a bunch of sites that seem like they can do this, however not sure how many are authentic sites (meaning no virus after downloading the software). The most popular seems to be EricDaugherty.com which is mentioned on multiple sites.

 

I was curious to see (for those of you who have done this), which program you downloaded and if it worked well and was easy to use?

 

Any write ups on making M3U files would be really helpfull!

 

My main goal is to set up various play lists for different music styles (including my 2 year olds fav music lol) and be able to play just those play lists on demand. For those of you who have also done this, can you tell me if these play lists will actually play the music in the exact order I set them in and not like the default settings in the Edge which is by song title? I don't want my music to play by song title, song number, or artist name, I want it in the order I set it up to play in.

 

Again, some people tell me to simply call it up with the voice command, I've tried and it catches about half (if not less) of the artists I want to listen to, forget about asking for the song title, it's even worst.

 

Thanks for all the help and hopefully I can make some M3U's this weekend!!!

 

Tony

 

How are you accessing the music - on an ipod/iphone or on a usb flash drive? If you're using an ipod/iphone they should work already just like they do from the ipod/iphone itself. You only need the M3U playlist files if you're using a usb drive, which I assume is the case but wanted to be sure so you don't waste your time.

[Dreamss]

Sorry akirby!!

 

I intended to mention this and it slipped my mind and I was rushing to finish before work started lol.

 

I will be loading all music and play lists onto a 4 gig USB flash drive.

I already have all my music on it but want to add a few playlists to it.

 

I have an iphone 4 as well, but don't have the patience to continue taking it out of my pocket to plug it in to access the music but I think it also get's done wirelessly if I am correct. In any case, I don't want to worry about pairing all the time or it dropping the connection, I want to stay safe and go with the USB drive for this type of job.

 

Thanks for your help!

Tony

[tonyabionda]

Hi,

 

I sent you reply to your private message, but I also wanted to post it here in case someone else was interested.

 

I also found the programs you mentioned finding, but they aren't for all of the music, only songs that are in playlists and I wanted my complete music collection available in my car. If you only want certain songs, you'll have to tweak these instructions or find another way entirely. The good news is that this way you don't need any new software. iTunes and a text editor (like Notepad in Windows) is all you need.

 

There are two programs I use, but they aren't necessary. My comps are all Windows and at least on is Windows specific. But there is sure to be something similar for Macs. The first is a text editor called NoteTab. It just speeds it up a bit because you can have all the playlists open at once inside that program. It creates a tab for each one that you can toggle through when you are tweaking the playlist manually. I have the pro version but it's also free and can be found at download.com. (a safe place to download programs) The second is called SyncToy. I use it to copy my music and keep it synced on my usb drive, but it's also not necessary. I downloaded it directly from Microsoft. Just google SyncToy and you'll find the link. It keeps track of what files I've modified and keeps everything up to date without copying everything, every time. I use both of these programs for other things and already had them before this.

 

I actually typed up directions for my sister because she just purchased an MKX, my brother has a 2012 Focus ordered and my other sister is planning on another Explorer within the next year. I'll paste them below.

 

I honestly don't remember if they play in any certain order. I don't usually pay attention to that when making a playlist. I just have them shuffle. (Something that needs serious improvement in my Edge. It doesn't truly shuffle properly.)

These directions seem pretty complicated, but once you do it a few times you won't think they are that bad. I just tried to spell everything out in detail because you never know the experience level of the person reading them.

Good Luck!

 

Tonya

 

**********

 

These are the instructions to copy your complete iTunes music library and your playlists to a usb drive. You will then be able to take that drive and play the playlists through MyFord/Lincoln Touch or any computer where you plug in the usb drive.

 

 

Copy entire 'Music' Directory to your usb drive

 

If you don't know where it's located, open iTunes then select Edit-->Preferences and select the Advanced tab. It's listed in the iTunes Media folder location.

The default location has changed with upgrades to iTunes. The default in Windows is now C:\Users\*YourUserName*\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media\Music

 

The larger your music library, the longer it will take.

 

Open iTunes and right click on playlist name. Select Export.

 

Select m3u as 'Save as Type' and save the file to the root of your usb drive.

 

This playlist references the music on your C: drive, so we will need to change it to reference a location relative to the playlist location so it will point to the music on the usb drive no matter what drive letter is assigned. Don't understand? That's fine, just follow these steps.

 

1. Open Notepad and then select File-->Open

 

2. In order for Notepad to display the m3u file as something to open, you will need to change the dropdown box that says 'Text Documents (*.txt)' to 'All Files (*.*)'

 

3. Locate the m3u file on your usb drive and open it.

 

4. Look for the first song listing. Copy everything on that line before 'Music' including the backslash. example: C:\Users\*User Name*\Music\iTunes\iTunes Media\

 

5. Select Edit-->Replace

 

6. Paste the info you copied into the 'Find' field. Leave the 'Replace with' field blank.

 

7. Click on Replace All.

 

8. Save the file.

 

You are finished. You will need to repeat steps 1-8 for each playlist you want to use from your usb drive.

 

[mv-clear]

Very detailed instructions, looks good.

 

M.