Author Topic: Syncing playlists to Android / Samsung S21  (Read 3477 times)

musicmarc

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Hi folks
Ive tried twice to get this to work so before i embark on the 3rd attempt - could someone please let me know the correct settings for the syncing of music bee - music & playlists to android - as the music copies over but the playlists are not working.

(I've copied this over from itunes import - though no smart playlists are being imported).

I've a screenshot of the mb settings i have (for some reason there is 2 devices of the same name which i dont understand - but ive set both to the same settings in case)

https://imgur.com/a/Y9vfLvp

And i do get now get playlist show up on my mobile, but it cant find the music on the phone, so im sure im getting a setting wrong?

Id also like to start a fresh with this next attempt - with a fresh music bee database & itunes import as ive added a load of new music & just to give this the best chance of working.

My goal is to get a stable 2 way sync between music bee & my android poweramp player (playlist changes / ratings etc)

I do need to use itunes to communicate with my dj software - rekordbox - but would prefer to move over to Music bee to manage all my music if poss - so would also like advice on the best steps to keep itunes playlists updated periodically & easily. I have itunes set to auto organise so currently it is reading from that file system - & next will be my media monkey database - so any insight into how to best approach doing this correctly first time would be very much appreciated.

phred

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What version of MB are you using? (Help > About) INCLUDE THE LETTER (if any) AFTER THE NUMBER
How was MB installed? (Store, Installer, Portable)
Are you using MB's WiFi Sync App?
Have you done a -wired- Preview once with the current settings? (it's necessary.)

I would suggest not using the Music directory on the phone for playlists. Create a new directory ("Playlists") and point MB's playlist storage setting to that.
Also, delete one of the two "duplicate" devices. It will only confuse things going forward.

If you know what format itunes uses for playlists go to each playlist and enable "export a static copy." Then go to Preferences > Library > playlists > exported playlists and enter the path you want to use for the exported playlists along with the format that itunes can accept. If it's not among the ones listed, then I have no suggestion to getting the playlists to itunes.
Download the latest MusicBee v3.5 or 3.6 patch from here.
Unzip into your MusicBee directory and overwrite existing files.

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musicmarc

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Thanks Phred :) - responses below

What version of MB are you using? (Help > About) INCLUDE THE LETTER (if any) AFTER THE NUMBER -3.4.8033

How was MB installed? (Store, Installer, Portable) - Installer

Are you using MB's WiFi Sync App? - No - usb

Have you done a -wired- Preview once with the current settings? (it's necessary.) - Yep - Usb sync

I would suggest not using the Music directory on the phone for playlists. Create a new directory ("Playlists") and point MB's playlist storage setting to that.
Also, delete one of the two "duplicate" devices. It will only confuse things going forward. - i did have that selected but didnt see any playlists copied over on first sync so figured i should change it - happy to revert it back tho

If you know what format itunes uses for playlists go to each playlist and enable "export a static copy." Then go to Preferences > Library > playlists > exported playlists and enter the path you want to use for the exported playlists along with the format that itunes can accept. If it's not among the ones listed, then I have no suggestion to getting the playlists to itunes. - ok thanks - i think it can read any of normal ones so if theres a batch export from mb - that works well - To export each one 'from' itunes has to be done individually as it keeps all the playlists locked in one database file - which with hundreds of them - takes too long.


phred

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I don't use a reverse sync, but I seem to recall that it can only be done via the WiFi Sync app. Again - I may be wrong about this. But I do know that reverse syncing can only be done with PowerAmp and GoneMad.

If you didn't enable "export a static copy" when you set up each playlist, then you'll have to edit each one and enable it. Once enabled they will automatically export every time the playlist, or file within the playlist, changes.

I have nothing else to offer at this point.


Download the latest MusicBee v3.5 or 3.6 patch from here.
Unzip into your MusicBee directory and overwrite existing files.

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The FAQ
The Wiki
Posting screenshots is here
Searching the forum with Google is  here

boroda

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@musicmarc, you could try this plugin to keep mb database (or just subset of mb database) in sync with itunes database:

https://getmusicbee.com/addons/plugins/463/ipod-amp-iphone-driver-2-0/

just click 'work offline' when you are prompted to connect iphone. i would recommend turning auto-organization off in itunes.

BoringName

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I don't use a reverse sync, but I seem to recall that it can only be done via the WiFi Sync app. Again - I may be wrong about this. But I do know that reverse syncing can only be done with PowerAmp and GoneMad.

I believe this is correct, at least for GoneMad as the app triggers GoneMad to create the Stats file used to sync play counts. MusicBee wouldn't be able to trigger GoneMad to do this over a wired sync as it's basically just a file copy process, not an interface to apps on the device.

There should be a "Files" app on the phone that lets you browse the directories, I would check if any actual music files are in the music folder. If its able to copy the playlists it should be able to copy the music. It could be an issue with PowerAmp actually finding the files.

To do what you want, you will need to use the Wifi sync app. Just check the thread for that as there are issues with android 11 and 12 that you will need to fix before it works.

The plugin Boroda linked should be able to keep itunes synced up for you but there are also a few issues with that you will need to read about. I think most are listed on the addons page and there is also a dedicated thread for it that you should read.

musicmarc

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Thanks so much everyone for your input - i'll read up and use all those when i get the playlists onto android working.

Can i just check these following queries so i make sure im not missing anything on setup

1. Is there a best practice way to clear my library from music bee & my device so im starting a fresh 1st sync from itunes into music bee - then sync music bee all selected playlists & music onto android / poweramp? I'm thinking i just delete the music folder on my device & maybe just uninstall & reinstall music bee?

2. Should i use the same file format itunes autoorganise uses - album artist - artist - track number title? I changed it in music bee device sync settings, but think this might be my issue with playlist on device not finding the music. Can anyone can verify i have the other device settings correct from that 1st Imgur screenshot (e.g relative path ticked, etc) & If i change the folder to  the same folder structure as itunes - then run the first wired sync - the music & playlists should all copy over (i'll create a playlists folder outside of music too) - and link up in poweramp. Theoretically?

2.5 p.s I would like to get away from itunes autoorganise, but as everything is setup and i have a huge amount of smart playlists setup for harmonic djing that arent getting copied over - it seems wise to not change the file structure at this point - until i get the integration of music bee working with everything else

 3. Instead of running the whole music sync is there a simple way to just test a small section after importing itunes library and playlists into music bee (or before)

4. re reverse syncing via wifi app - (haven't got to that yet but its installed) - will this work with the fact my internet for my laptop is tethering off my mobile data (unlimited tethering)? I don't have the usual wired connection as i live on narrowboat but wifi sync worked with mediamonkey so hope its the same for music bee.

Main thing is getting playlists to connect to music. The music files on the playlists are all definitely in the music folder - and being recognised to play using other options - just not when playing from the playlist. I'm going to manually delete everything on the phone and run the sync music & all selected playlists again - soon as i know my settings are correct. When i get that done i need to find a way of importing all my music monkey playlists which is another / different library :)

Many thanks

BoringName

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1. You should be able to go to File->Library->Create New Library. That way you can go back to the original library if required.
2. Format shouldn't make any difference I wouldn't think. I just synced to my Redmi Note 10 Pro running a custom Android 12 ROM with 2 playlists. I installed the trial version of Poweramp and that found the playlists just fine and songs selected in that playlist play ok.
The difference in settings to yours are
The first storage path - Music\<Album Artist>\<Album>\<Disc-Track#> - <Title>
The other storage paths are the same.

Not sure what happens there if the album artist is blank in musicbee, I'm going to assume it just uses the artist instead as I have seen that happen in other areas of music bee.

Playlists path - Music\Playlists\
Create a subfolder for each playlist and it's tracks is unticked. - I think this might be what is causing your issue.
Use relative paths is unticked.

The rest of the settings are the same.

2.5 You should be able to create those smart playlists in Musicbee and then sync them to itunes with the Iphone & iPod drive plugin. I would definitely recommend turning off autoorganise in Itunes once you have moved over to musicbee.
3. You should be able to just export a couple of playlists from iTunes and import them into Musicbee. What version of iTunes are you using? Anything after 12.5.3.16 will not work very well with the plugin. It's not fun downgrading iTunes to earlier versions.
4. If it worked on with mediamonkey I can't see why it wouldn't work. Just remember to give it access in the windows firewall. If you get an error message about it not being the root folder on the device, you will need to read the solutions in the wifi sync thread.

edit: When you say you have a "huge" amount of playlists, how many are you talking about and how many tracks would each playlist have on average? The plugin isn't very quick so that is something to consider with a large library.

edit2: I could be wrong but just looking at the source code for the wifi app, I don't think Poweramp is going to work for reverse sync on Android 12. GoneMad creates it's stats file in an external folder so MB can grab it if it has the right permissions. It looks like PowerAmp stores it in it's own data folder which is completely out of bounds in Android 12 unless you have a rooted device. I don't think that can be fixed without the author of PowerAmp making some changes.

I was able to manually export a backup file for statistics from poweramp but I don't know what data format it is as it shows up as gibberish in notepad++.

I know reverse sync works with GoneMad (paid version).
Last Edit: July 11, 2022, 11:59:10 PM by BoringName

musicmarc

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Your a star 'Boring Name'  :) Thanks so much for all this info & will follow along later. Might switch media players too for reverse syncing - though i do like the poweramp navigation.

Best
Marc