Q: I’m trying to get my smart playlists to select a new batch of songs each time I open them. I have “Live Updating” checked, but that doesn’t seem to do the trick. How can I make this happen? Any help would be appreciated.
– Andy
A: The Live Updating feature of smart playlists is not intended to generate a new set of selections each time a playlist is selected. Instead, it simply marks the difference between a playlist that is created once using the logic it is given, never changing, and one that continuously updates itself to represent the logic it’s governed by.
For example, if you were to create a smart playist that finds all of your 5-star songs, and not select “Live Updating,” these tracks would stay in the playlist even if you de-rated them later.
With “Live Updating” selected, the items would immediately disappear if de-rated.
Unfortunately, there’s no way to create a smart playlist that automatically generates a new list of random songs each time it’s clicked. Our suggestion is to emulate this capability by simply shuffling your entire library – the effect is roughly the same.