Would be nice to be able import playlists "directly" from iTunes, etc.

[RLanger7228 34]

     I have only just started to explore the music potential of Emby.  I imagine that Emby playlists are usually created the same as they are for videos: by adding to/creating playlists when browsing individual items.

      I have been using iTunes/Apple Music for decades & have amassed over 100GB of MP3 files, and curated over 50 playlists out of the music that I own.  Since I now keep a copy of the music files on my Synology NAS & made the folders accessible to Emby, a "direct" import function for Playlists would be particularly useful for me.   Apple Music allows me to export a list of songs in the playlist to a separate file.  It would be great if Emby programmers could look at the structure of one of those files and create an IMPORT function that would read the file & assign the songs in my library to an Emby playlist.  I will upload an example of an Apple Music playlist file.   The text file I uploaded is what Apple Music exports, but it can easily be imported into a spreadsheet (just open the file in Excel, etc), which divides up the information neatly into rows & columns, making it easy to import elsewhere - Each song has its own row, and data columns could be selected or ignored as desired.

     I also imagine that other streaming music users (e.g. Spotify, Pandora, etc) might also appreciate being able to import their playlists.  I haven't used those services, so I don't know if they allow exporting a playlist or what format those files might be in.  However, it may not be much use if they don't have the corresponding MP3 files in their Emby Library.

 

Bistro European.txt

[ebr 15435]

Hi.  We already support M3U which is a standard for playlists.  Won't this work?

[RLanger7228 34]

Since the file I uploaded is what Apple Music exports, and is in a TXT format, I am not sure how to convert this to M3U.  Do you have any suggestions?

[Happy2Play 9140]

9 minutes ago, RLanger7228 said:

Since the file I uploaded is what Apple Music exports, and is in a TXT format, I am not sure how to convert this to M3U.  Do you have any suggestions?

Change from txt to m3u

But have not verified exported format.

[RLanger7228 34]

When I went to File>Library>export playlist (SS1), I saw only a save dialogue (SS 2), with no file type options as you have shown.

[Happy2Play 9140]

10 minutes ago, RLanger7228 said:

When I went to File>Library>export playlist (SS1), I saw only a save dialogue (SS 2), with no file type options as you have shown.

Not sure as I just opened the Windows app and those are the options I get.  Will have to do some google to see how other platforms work.

[yaksplat 61]

I have a VB script that does this. 

Just update the location in the script.  While itunes is open, with the playlist open, just run the script.

 

Edit: I'm on windows and see that you're on a mac. 

ExportPlaylist.vbs

[RLanger7228 34]

Thank you for the script.  However, I don't have any experience with scripting, and don't know how to run it (or modify the destination location).  I have programmed in BASIC, and am familiar with basic programming principle, so I would probably be able to recognize where the file address should go, if I examined the file carefully.  You seem to have added sufficient commenting to figure things out.

However, if this script was written for a PC, it probably wouldn't run on an Apple silicon Mac, or would it?

[RLanger7228 34]

On 12/8/2024 at 4:53 PM, ebr said:

Hi.  We already support M3U which is a standard for playlists.  Won't this work?

Unfortunately, the script recommended by Yaksplat is not written to run on a Mac.  However...

After a bit of research I found that Apple Music actually WILL export playlists in M3U format (sample file uploaded) [APPLE MUSIC>FILE>LIBRARY>EXPORT PLAYLIST (SS1)], then export the playlist in the appropriate FORMAT (SS 2).  Step 1 solved.  

However, when I go to Emby>Music, I don't see a way to import a playlist.   [see *** below for presumed answer to this issue]

Another issue is that the new.M3U file has individual file references that include the file/folder path on my Mac.  Fortunately, the file path from the main music folder containing the music to the songs themselves would be the same, but since I want the Emby Playlists to refer to the music on my NAS, the root would be different.  I imagine that I could edit the M3U file in a text editor and do a simple search & replace for the correct root?  

Where would I find the proper root reference for my NAS?  [see *** below for presumed answer to this issue]

*** As I was writing this, A lightbulb went on & I went to Emby>Settings>Library>Music and found what may be the answer to some of my questions (SS 3).  There IS an option to "import playlist files in my media directories" - does it matter which folder within the indexed Music folder?   If not, I suppose I could create a sub-folder off the main folder called "Imported Playlists"? There is also a reference at the top: \Volume 1\Music\.  I assume that would be the root reference I was looking for?

Which brings me to another question:  Is there a way to keep the music playlists separate from the movie playlists?  The reason I UNchecked the "import playlist files in my media directories" is because both movie & music playlists appeared together in the Playlist section.  When I tried to delete the music playlists (since I had some I did not create [long story]), I was not allowed to remove them.

If there is not a way to keep them separate, it occurs to me that I could simply convert the Movie Playlists into Collections, by displaying the playlist & adding each item to a new corresponding Collection, then deleting the Playlist - a bit tedious, but not too difficult.  The only downside to this strategy is that Collections are not yet collaborative among Users, whereas Playlists are.

Bistro European.m3u

[RLanger7228 34]

OK.  Waiting for confirmation of my assumptions I went ahead & tried some of them.  I got rid of my "errant" playlists by searching for M3U in the /Music folder using  File Station, then deleted them: they are now gone from Emby.  I found them scattered throughout my music folder structure, so that answers the question about where they can be stored: anywhere is fine.  It did require a library re-scan to get the newly uploaded playlist to be recognized.

I used TextEdit & did a search & replace for the root directory, using /Volume 1/Music/MainMusicFolder.  The new playlist shows up in the music playlist section (but not in the movie playlist section this time ?!?).  However, opening the playlist in Music shows there are no songs listed, and PLAY says there is nothing to play.  GRUNT.  I noticed that the file path was using the forward slash /, so I tried a search & replace to put in the backslash \, renamed it to Playlist 2, then uploaded it & re-scanned the library.  It also doesn't have any of the songs listed.  GRUNT.

I uploaded the edited M3U file (with forward slash) in case inspection might tell me what's wrong.

I am also curious why the music playlists used to show up mixed in with the movie playlists, but don't now.  I hate inconsistent computer problems.

 

Any suggestions?

Bistro European.m3u