Thanks - never saw that option in the list!
Here's what I did with that: not quite as elegant, but I've managed to make something close to my original idea by combining a number of separate playlists into one "master" playlist that I actually sync to my phone:
Rated 3-3.5, last-played > 3 years (limit = 700 tracks of ~4,000)
+
Rated 4-4.5 > 1 year (limit = 700 tracks of ~2,000)
+
Rated 5 > 90 days (no limit, but currently about 700 tracks)
This way, I can adjust the ratio of my rating groups & last-played's to balance things, and the sheer number of my lower-rated tracks don't dominate - but still make sure I play older 3's (whereas 5's are likely to come back around repeatedly every 90 days). I just finished rating all of my tracks, so it will take a while to see how the experiment plays out - those tracks without a "last-played date" match any date, so technically it might take a couple of years to see how fast I rotate through things
![:-)](./images/smilies/icon_smile.gif)
Obviously, I'll track where things are falling, and adjust the date ranges & count limits as I go - hopefully it will settle down into a steady state eventually.
A couple of possible additions, by adding new component playlists:
3-3.5, 6mo-3 years (50 tracks? Least-played first?) - to mix in a small, limited repeat - but limit to 6mo-2 years, so they're NEVER repeated within 6 months
4-4.5, 3mo-1 year (50 tracks?) - same reason
5, 7-90 days (50 tracks?) - same
"Hot Tracks" - a standard playlist that I can add & remove things I want to listen to regularly - but mixed into the bigger mix
The reason to mix in "a few" somewhat recently played tracks is that otherwise, tracks will rotate in a larger cycle - ie things I haven't played for 3 years will move to the front of the line, get played, then have to age to the back of the queue (i.e. 3 years) to play again. So while the base "> 3 y" rule makes sure old songs don't languish there, it just sets me up for a playlist that has a 3-year cycle to it. The short-term small seeding above adds some good churn to that.
Note, I haven't done anything with "Played #" yet, as this is *loosely* related to "Last Played" (esp. if counts are only at 0 or 1). I could see using this either way: i.e. make sure to include tracks that haven't been heard much, OR use it as a way to automatically repeat tracks that I choose to play manually because they're "hot"/in my "short rotation" - opinions?
If anyone has other ideas on how to make a great "rating + age-since-last-played" weighted playlist, I'm all ears!
PS My rating system, in case it helps understand the above:
1 = junk - never want to hear it again - DELETE
2 = so-so, don't sync to phone, but don't delete - i.e. keep around in case I'm really in a mood for an artists' deeper tracks
3 = good stuff, I want it sync'd in my regular, everyday mix, but not repeated often
4 = really good stuff - I could hear this repeated every month or so
5 = awesome, play-anytime, could hear it every day
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PS 20160605 Update
Loving this playlist with some new additions. I get some oldies, some new, and hear my all-time favorites often enough, but interspersed with stuff I still like, but haven't heard in ages.
I enhanced it to balance decades. So, under the 3's & 4's "last played" playlists, I now have an autoplaylist for each decade:
3-3.5 Auotplaylist, consisting of all of:
Date unknown, last played > 1095 days, limit=100 tracks
< 1970, 3-3.5, last played > 1095 days, limit=100 tracks
1970-79, 3-3.5, last played > 1095 days, limit=100 tracks
1980-89, 3-3.5, last played > 1095 days, limit=100 tracks
. . . etc.
Same for 4-4.5's
Now, if I could balance on mood, and tempo....
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PS 20160901 Update: adding a little short-cycle churn
In order to mix the list up a little more, so that a few tracks break the rule of "Only play a song once, until all songs of that rating have been played", I've added an extra group for each rating:
3-3.5: 6mo-3 years (100 tracks) - allows a few repeats before 3 years - but NEVER repeated within 6 months
4-4.5: 3mo-1 year (100 tracks) - same reason
5: 30-90 days (50 tracks) - same
"Hot Tracks" - a standard playlist that I can add & remove things I want to listen to more regularly - but mixed into the bigger mix
This is turning out to be an AWESOME playlist - I'm constantly surprised by good tunes I haven't heard in a long time, with more frequent plays of higher-rated tracks. It also mixes up the decades and ratings, so I don't get 50 "5's" in a row, followed by 50 "3's" - that constant "good....best....better....good....best" and date mix changes it up so that every track is "fresh" and "noticed" more, because it is likely to be a different decade, or rating, and thus style, than the previous song.
Next, I'm going to do this with all my other playlists, like Jazz....