Is There a Way to Transfer iTunes Playlists?

[CoolRich59]

I had a 2015 Macbook Pro for everyday use and an older (2103) Macbook Pro I used for photo storage and my iTunes library. Earlier this week, I got a Mac Mini with a 1TB SSD drive with the intention of combining both machines.

The Migration Assistant program worked flawlessly for the 2015 Mac. The 2013 Mac has really been showing its age and I didn't know if Migration Assistant would work, especially since the photos and music took up a lot of space (my iTunes library is close to 200GB). So, I ended up downloading those items onto an external 500GB SSD drive and then uploading them to the new Mac.

That seemed to go well until I realized that, while the music was there, none of the playlists appeared. I have spent a couple of hours in Apple's forums and, with the way Apple evades pointed questions about playlists, I'm getting the sense that I didn't flub the transfer.

I have a couple of dozen playlists. The "standard" playlists could be recreated, but I also had a lot of "smart" playlists based on ratings, last played, etc.

Is there a way to transfer playlists?

 

[CaliKid]

I had a 2015 Macbook Pro for everyday use and an older (2103) Macbook Pro I used for photo storage and my iTunes library. Earlier this week, I got a Mac Mini with a 1TB SSD drive with the intention of combining both machines.

The Migration Assistant program worked flawlessly for the 2015 Mac. The 2013 Mac has really been showing its age and I didn't know if Migration Assistant would work, especially since the photos and music took up a lot of space (my iTunes library is close to 200GB). So, I ended up downloading those items onto an external 500GB SSD drive and then uploading them to the new Mac.

That seemed to go well until I realized that, while the music was there, none of the playlists appeared. I have spent a couple of hours in Apple's forums and, with the way Apple evades pointed questions about playlists, I'm getting the sense that I didn't flub the transfer.

I have a couple of dozen playlists. The "standard" playlists could be recreated, but I also had a lot of "smart" playlists based on ratings, last played, etc.

Is there a way to transfer playlists?

I don't know "the" answer but all my itunes playlists sink automatically from each device. So I make a change on my laptop it shows up on my Iphone and vice versa. Nothing to export or anything. We do pay for Apple Music if that changes things maybe!?

 

[Dash man]

I don't know "the" answer but all my itunes playlists sink automatically from each device. So I make a change on my laptop it shows up on my Iphone and vice versa. Nothing to export or anything. We do pay for Apple Music if that changes things maybe!?

I think you have to subscribe to iTunes Match for $24.99/year. I do and my playlists show up on all my devices.

 

[CoolRich59]

Thanks to you both. I'm not sure if that's the fix for me as right now, the playlists no longer exist. However, if I can't find another fix and Apple Music or Match would restore them, I would do that as a last option.

But, it would frost me to have to pay Apple to recover my playlists.

 

[target2019]

https://www.wikihow.com/Export-an-iTunes-Playlist
As longs as the library structure remains the same, this should work.

 

[CoolRich59]

https://www.wikihow.com/Export-an-iTunes-Playlist
As longs as the library structure remains the same, this should work.

Thank you! I will give this a try.

 

[CoolRich59]

https://www.wikihow.com/Export-an-iTunes-Playlist
As longs as the library structure remains the same, this should work.

This partially worked. I was able to transfer regular playlists, but "smart" playlists were empty.

I suspect it's because all the music came through without playcounts, ratings, etc. that the rules in the smart playlists use to structure those playlists.

But, I'm still delighted that I'm able to recover the majority of my playlists. Thank you!

 

[target2019]

I haven't used iTunez in a while. It should be simple to re-create the smart playlists.
This is typical of most data move tasks. You get much of what you need, but not everything.
Happy tunez-in.