Share smart playlist Apple Music

• Go to File > New > Smart Playlist; or right-click Playlists > New Smart Playlist; or press Control+Alt+N (Win) or Option+Command+N (Mac).
• Set rules: Select a category (like Artist) and enter a name or keyword to be matched. Click + to add more rules. Select Limit to to add limits.
• Click Selected by to choose how to select songs. Click Live updating to continually update the Smart Playlist. When you're finished, select OK.

This article explains how to make Smart Playlists in Apple Music or iTunes using sets of rules to create interesting and fun mixes. Information here applies to both iTunes and Apple Music. On the Mac, iTunes was replaced by Apple Music in 2019. On PCs, iTunes is still Apple's music-management software.

You may want to create a Smart Playlist of songs that you rated five stars, played more than 50 times, or added to your library in the last 30 days. By setting up Smart Playlist rules, the music service automatically updates a playlist's songs when your music library changes.

There are three options to create a Smart Playlist in Apple Music and iTunes: using the File menu, your mouse, or a keyboard shortcut.

In Apple Music or iTunes, go to File, select New, then choose Smart Playlist.

In Apple Music, right-click the Playlists header. In iTunes, right-click a blank area beneath the list of playlists. From the pop-up menu, select New Smart Playlist.

Press Control+Alt+N (on Windows) or Option+Command+N (on a Mac).

You can only create Smart Playlists on a computer using Apple Music or iTunes. While Smart Playlists can be synced to your iOS device, you can't create a Smart Playlist on a device.

Next, create the Smart Playlists rules to generate the exact set of songs you want. Select the criteria that determine which songs are added to your Smart Playlist now and in the future.

1. In the Smart Playlist dialog box, click the dropdown arrow and choose a category. For example, choose Artist to add songs by a specific musician or band.

2. Enter a name or keyword to be matched. For example, enter Willie Nelson to search the artists in your music library and add songs by Willie Nelson. 

3. To add more rules to a Smart Playlist, click + to add a new row, then enter the matching criteria. For example, add a new row, then choose the Album Rating category to add songs that have 5 stars.

   To delete a rule, remove the row that contains the rule criteria. To remove a row, click -.

4. To set limits for the Smart Playlist, select the Limit to checkbox, enter a number, then select what you want to limit (for example, items, time, or file size).

5. Click the selected by drop-down arrow, then choose how to select songs.

6. You may have set some songs in your library not to sync to your iOS device. If so, and if you want to sync only some songs with your Smart Playlist, select the Match only checked items checkbox to add songs from your music library that have a check in the box to the left of the song.

7. To automatically update the Smart Playlist every time new music is added or other changes are made to your library, click the Live updating checkbox.

8. Click OK to create the Smart Playlist and add it to your list of Playlists.

9. To rename the playlist, go to Playlists and click the playlist. Click the playlist name at the top of the screen, wait for it to become editable, type a name, and press Enter.

There are three ways to edit your Smart Playlist:s:

• To rearrange the order, drag a song to a different location in the list.
• To remove a song from the playlist (but not from your music Library), select the song and press Delete or right-click the song and select Remove from Playlist.
• To change the rules used to create the playlist, select Edit Rules, then change the settings.

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Apple Music’s curated playlists are good enough for many people, but they can’t compare to a customized playlist built to suit your tastes. Even better, there are ways to mix, match, and combine multiple Apple Music playlists to create a mammoth list of tracks to suit any mood. You can also define certain rules, such as “songs played at least 25 times” and/or “released in 1970 or earlier,” etc., to quickly make large, self-updating playlists. We’re going to show you how to create smarter playlists for Apple Music, using both official and third-party tools.

Create smart playlists on the Music app on your iPhone

Apple’s Shortcuts app allows you to create smart playlists on your iPhone without resorting to a third-party service. If you are comfortable with creating and modifying shortcuts on your phone, this method will serve you well. As an example, here’s an iPhone shortcut for making smart playlists on Apple Music. It was created by Ronald Langeveld, who optimized it to pick up the top 25 songs in your library and add them to a new playlist.

You can open the shortcut and tweak or add different parameters to optimize it for your needs. You may even use the Automations tab in the Shortcuts app to run this shortcut automatically every day, so that it continually updates your playlist.

Use third-party Apple Music apps to make smart playlists

Third-party Apple Music apps can do a lot of things that the stock app cannot. Both Marvis Pro ($6.99) and Soor ($6.99) allow you to create rule-based playlists without breaking a sweat, and are generally better alternatives to the stock Music app. Both these app add a host of features and a much nicer interface while retaining almost all of Apple Music’s typical features.

If you are happy with the stock music app and you just want an easy way to create smart playlists, you can buy Miximum ($1.99), an app dedicated to the task.

The smart playlist features in all of these apps let you define a set of rules—such as songs you’ve never played, or songs of a certain length—to automatically generate a playlist, and create auto-updating playlists based on that. (I created a bespoke, 1,000-song playlist in less than 10 minutes using these apps.)

Create smart playlists using the Music app on Mac

If you have a Mac, its stock Music app lets you create smart playlists. (Why Apple hasn’t added this feature to the Music app on iPhone is baffling.) On your Mac, open the Music app and go to File > New > Smart Playlist, or use the keyboard shortcut Option + Command + N to open a smart playlist window.

Here you can define all kinds of rules from the drop-down menus under Match for the following rule. Use the + button to add more rules. Be sure to check Live updating to ensure that your smart playlist keeps updating itself. When you’re done, click OK.