Music - Export files from a playlist/smart playlist to finder

Does any know know of a script (free if possible) that can export the content of a smart playlist/playlist to the finder?

thanks

Hi. It’s unclear if by ‘content’ you mean the track metadata or the actual files. The latter could be cripplingly time-consuming, but can be affected by re-enabling the commented out sections.

set trackData to {}
--set fileLoci to {}
tell application "iTunes" --or "Music"
	tell playlist "Enya" to repeat with aTrack in tracks
		tell aTrack
			set trackData's end to {artist, "—", album, ": ", name} & return
			--set fileLoci's end to its location
		end tell
	end repeat
end tell
set trackData to trackData as text
tell application "Finder"
	write my trackData to ((make file) as alias)
	--duplicate fileLoci to choose folder
end tell

I was talking about actual files. Sorry I wasn’t clear. Thanks for pointing it out.

Thats great! It works!

Is there a way to select a playlist and not specify the name of the playlist in the list?

thanks

You can specify them by index; e.g. 'playlist 2", but that requires knowing the item’s position; it’s probably safer to use a name, and you could choose it:

[format]tell playlist (get (choose from list (get user playlists’s name))'s item 1) to repeat with aTrack in tracks[/format]

Thanks for sharing this addition to the already useful script but I understand error on the side of being careful but what if I want to live dangerously. Have the selected playlist export? How would I do that?

Check out dougscripts.com

All the bits and pieces you need are there

@slashdot, hi.

Simply replace in the script of Mark Anthony

tell playlist “Enya”

with

tell current playlist

It is your manually selected playlist.

Hi, thanks you for the reply but unfortunately when doing this for music app it runs but nothing happens.

set trackData to {}
--set fileLoci to {}
tell application "Music" --or "Music"
	tell current playlist to repeat with aTrack in tracks
		tell aTrack
			set trackData's end to {artist, "—", album, ": ", name} & return
			--set fileLoci's end to its location
		end tell
	end repeat
end tell
set trackData to trackData as text
tell application "Finder"
	write my trackData to ((make file) as alias)
	--duplicate fileLoci to choose folder
end tell

Not sure if you tired it on iTunes app but the music app it doesn’t work for macOS 10.15 - catalina

It works when some song plays. So, select manually some playlist, run this script:

set trackData to {}
--set fileLoci to {}
say "Exporting current palylist's info" -- ADDED

tell application "Music" --or "Music"
	play -- ADDED
	delay 0.1 -- ADDED
	tell (get current playlist) to repeat with aTrack in tracks -- EDITED
		tell aTrack
			set trackData's end to {artist, "—", album, ": ", name} & return
			--set fileLoci's end to its location
		end tell
	end repeat
	stop -- ADDED
end tell
set trackData to trackData as text
tell application "Finder"
	write my trackData to ((make file) as alias)
	--duplicate fileLoci to choose folder
end tell

Hi KniazidisR…

thanks for responding. It’s greatly appreciated. However, I think the script you’re sharing is exporting the playlist data like albums and songs.

what I was asking for is to export the files in a playlist itself to a specified destination.

The script you provided does work to export the playlist album and song names but I’m looking for the ability to export the files to a folder of my choosing.

Hi, again.

I forgot you want the files and not the info of them. Use this:

set fileLoci to {}
say "Exporting current playlist's files" -- ADDED

tell application "Music" --or "Music"
	play -- ADDED
	delay 0.1 -- ADDED
	tell (get current playlist) to repeat with aTrack in tracks -- EDITED
		tell aTrack
			if (get its location) is missing value then
				-- do nothing
			else
				set fileLoci's end to its location
			end if
		end tell
	end repeat
	stop -- ADDED
end tell

tell application "Finder" to duplicate fileLoci to choose folder

Thanks! it worked. Appreciate it.

Advanced version, assuming playlist is chosen already as well:

set fileLoci to {}

tell application "Music" --or "iTunes"
	play
	set currentPlaylist to current playlist
	stop
	set playlistName to "playlist \"" & name of currentPlaylist & "\""
	say "Exporting " & playlistName & "'s files"
	tell currentPlaylist to repeat with aTrack in tracks
		tell aTrack to if not ((get its location) is missing value) then set fileLoci's end to its location
	end repeat
end tell

tell application "Finder"
	try
		set playlistsFolder to make new folder at (path to music folder) with properties {name:"Exported PlayLists"}
	on error
		set playlistsFolder to folder "Exported Playlists" of folder "Music" of home
	end try
	try
		set currentPlaylistFolder to make new folder at playlistsFolder with properties {name:playlistName}
	on error
		set currentPlaylistFolder to folder playlistName of folder "Exported Playlists" of folder "Music" of home
	end try
	duplicate fileLoci to currentPlaylistFolder
end tell

Next version uses choose dialogs to select playlist:

set fileLoci to {}

tell application "Music" -- or "iTunes"
	-- choose playlist
	set sourcesNames to name of every source
	set theChoice to choose from list sourcesNames with prompt "PLEASE SELECT THE SOURCE"
	if theChoice is false then return
	set theSourceName to item 1 of theChoice
	set playlistNames to name of every playlist of source theSourceName
	set theChoice to choose from list playlistNames with prompt "PLEASE SELECT THE PLAYLIST"
	if theChoice is not false then
		set selectedPlayList to playlist (item 1 of theChoice) of source theSourceName
		set view of front browser window to selectedPlayList
		set visible of front browser window to true
	end if
	
	set playlistName to "playlist \"" & name of selectedPlayList & "\""
	say "Exporting " & playlistName & "'s files"
	tell selectedPlayList to repeat with aTrack in tracks
		tell aTrack to if not ((get its location) is missing value) then set fileLoci's end to its location
	end repeat
	
end tell

tell application "Finder"
	try
		set playlistsFolder to make new folder at (path to music folder) with properties {name:"Exported PlayLists"}
	on error
		set playlistsFolder to folder "Exported Playlists" of folder "Music" of home
	end try
	try
		set currentPlaylistFolder to make new folder at playlistsFolder with properties {name:playlistName}
	on error
		set currentPlaylistFolder to folder playlistName of folder "Exported Playlists" of folder "Music" of home
	end try
	duplicate fileLoci to currentPlaylistFolder
end tell

tell application "Music" to quit -- or "iTunes"

that’s sweet! I’d definitely look forward to a script that does work with both smart and regular playlist.

This is good just some feedback for your consideration:

• always good to have the user specify where they want to save the file. Users rarely ever read documentation only when there are expect a behavior that didn’t happen. Desktop is always the best solution when it comes to exporting files. that’s the first place a user is going to look.
• otherwise this is great.

Feedback for your consideration.

• I think this is great. One note is the ability to select multiple playlist

So, it seems I was quick to declare that my latest version of the script with smart playlists does not work - it does. I updated my last script’s post (post #14).

Completed version of the script for exporting playlists to Finder.

Exports to the “Exported Playlists” folder on the desktop, also added the ability to select multiple playlists at once.

tell application "Music" -- or "iTunes"
	set sourcesNames to name of every source
	set theChoice to choose from list sourcesNames with prompt "PLEASE SELECT THE SOURCE"
	if theChoice is false then return
	set theSourceName to item 1 of theChoice
	set playlistNames to name of every playlist of source theSourceName
	set theChoice to choose from list playlistNames with prompt "PLEASE SELECT THE PLAYLIST(s)" with multiple selections allowed
	if theChoice is false then return
	set playlistsFolder to my makeDestinationRootFolder()
	repeat with i from 1 to count theChoice
		set selectedPlayList to playlist (item i of theChoice) of source theSourceName
		if (count (get tracks of selectedPlayList)) > 0 then
			set fileLoci to {}
			try
				set view of front browser window to selectedPlayList
				set visible of front browser window to true
			end try
			set playlistName to "playlist \"" & name of selectedPlayList & "\""
			say "Exporting " & playlistName 
			tell selectedPlayList to repeat with aTrack in tracks
				tell aTrack to if not ((get its location) is missing value) then set fileLoci's end to its location
			end repeat
			set currentFolder to my makeDestinationPlaylistFolder(playlistName)
			tell application "Finder" to duplicate fileLoci to currentFolder
		end if
	end repeat
	quit
end tell

on makeDestinationPlaylistFolder(playlistName)
	tell application "Finder"
		try
			set currentFolder to make new folder at folder "Exported PlayLists" of desktop with properties {name:playlistName}
		on error
			set currentFolder to folder playlistName of folder "Exported PlayLists" of desktop
		end try
	end tell
	return currentFolder
end makeDestinationPlaylistFolder

on makeDestinationRootFolder()
	tell application "Finder"
		try
			set f to make new folder at desktop with properties {name:"Exported PlayLists"}
		on error
			set f to folder "Exported Playlists" of desktop
		end try
	end tell
	return f
end makeDestinationRootFolder

Thanks a lot for knocking this out. Appreciate the hard work!

Picking back up on this to ask if anyone knows how I can adapt the suggested script solutions above from @KniazidisR & @slashdot to create a script that will batch export my entire Music Library’s playlist collection - ideally into the Playlist Folders they’re organised in - as .m3u files?