Can I import playlists from last.fm?

[James_]

I started using last.fm recently in order to track my music listening across both my windows desktop (foobar2000) and my android devices using Poweramp. All devices use identical local libraries of ~13,000 FLAC files.

Is it possible to sync playlists using last.fm? As in if I make a playlist on last.fm, could it be synced to all my devices? Or is there any other service with which I could sync playlists across all my devices? It's quite tedious to have to manually make the same playlists across all my devices.

Thanks

[andrewilley]

Playlists are simply text-based indexes pointing to the specific filenames and folder locations of music files on your device. So as LastFM won't know any of those details (it only knows Song Titles, Artists, etc) then it's highly unlikely that anything generated that way would work.

If you use file-based playlists, such as .M3U files, then as long as the folder structures (i.e. where you keep your music files) match between your different devices, which you say they do, you should be able to copy those playlist files using any file-copying software - via SMB or FTP for example - and they will then work on the new device too. When you make changes to an M3U-based playlist within Poweramp, the changed content will be written back into the local M3U file immediately.

I use the FolderSync app to transfer files from my phone to my NAS, but I'm sure there are other options out there depending on the exact setup you are using.

Andre

[James_]

12 hours ago, andrewilley said:

Playlists are simply text-based indexes pointing to the specific filenames and folder locations of music files on your device. So as LastFM won't know any of those details (it only knows Song Titles, Artists, etc) then it's highly unlikely that anything generated that way would work.

If you use file-based playlists, such as .M3U files, then as long as the folder structures (i.e. where you keep your music files) match between your different devices, which you say they do, you should be able to copy those playlist files using any file-copying software - via SMB or FTP for example - and they will then work on the new device too. When you make changes to an M3U-based playlist within Poweramp, the changed content will be written back into the local M3U file immediately.

I use the FolderSync app to transfer files from my phone to my NAS, but I'm sure there are other options out there depending on the exact setup you are using.

Andre

I'm not familiar with using M3U files. Can I create one using Poweramp? It's on Poweramp that I have my most updated playlists. After doing so, I can figure out file syncing somehow.

[andrewilley]

You can export any playlists that you created internally in PA using the Export menu option in the Library>Playlists view.

Once all are exported, move the new M3U8 files to a folder that PA can scan (one of your Music Folders locations) and they will appear in the Playlists view. You can then remove the original internal ones as you no longer need that version.

Andre

[James_]

Unfortunately my foobar2000 isn't properly reading the m3u8 files. Getting error messages. I imagine it's some sort of issue with the file directories specified in the m3u8 files. The files are identically named and all that, but the exact directory is obviously different between my Samsung Tablet and my Desktop PC. Any advice for getting the m3u8 files to be properly read? Or should I ask for help around the foobar2000 forums?

[andrewilley]

Sorry, I missed the fact that you originally mentioned Windows as one of your devices, I was thinking you were using several Poweramp installations on different devices.

Yes, absolute path differences will definirely throw syncing with foobar as it expects a fully specified Windows path. Poweramp has some smart import logic that ignores incompatible path info for playlist files, but foobar on PC does not.

The solution would be to use Relative paths. Although PA does not initially create new playlist files in that format, it can read them and then it uses the same mode when it needs to update such a file back to storage. Foobar can create relative path playlists initially, or you could manually edit the M3U8 files that PA has created in order to remove the root portion on each line.

So if you place your playlist files in the top level of your audio folder structure, so the relative paths to your music files will be the same across all of your devices, then both PA and foobar should be able to read the same playlist files when synced from one device to the other.

Andre

[andrewilley]

To clarify a bit. Consider songs stored in a 'My Music' folder on your Android SD Card and in the 'Music' folder on your PC.
 

An absolute M3U (or M3U8) playlist, as exported by Poweramp. Poweramp ignores root path info and can thus use this file on any Android device, as long as the files are present in the same parent folders. However foobar2000 on a PC won't understand the Android paths.

AB12-CD34/My Music/Artists/Electric Light Orchestra/Time/12 Hold on Tight - ELO.mp3
AB12-CD34/My Music/Artists/Jim Steinman/Bad For Good/03 Dance In My Pants - Jim Steinman.mp3
AB12-CD34/My Music/Artists/Supertramp/Breakfast in America (Deluxe)/02 The Logical Song - Supertramp.mp3

An absolute M3U playlist, as created from foobar2000 using Windows paths. Poweramp ignores root path info and can thus use it too, as long as the files are present in the same parent folders. However making any subsequent changes within Poweramp will result in it being re-saved with Android paths (as per above example) so it will no longer work on a PC.

C:\Users\youraccountname\Music\Artists\Electric Light Orchestra\Time\12 Hold on Tight - ELO.mp3
C:\Users\youraccountname\Music\Artists\Jim Steinman\Bad For Good\03 Dance In My Pants - Jim Steinman.mp3
C:\Users\youraccountname\Music\Artists\Supertramp\Breakfast in America (Deluxe)\02 The Logical Song - Supertramp.mp3

A relative M3U file as created by foobar2000. It must be saved into the 'Music' folder on your PC, which will force foobar to build relative paths from there rather than absolute ones.  If you copy this M3U file to the 'My Music' folder on your Android device, and allow Poweramp to scan it, it will work there too. If you later edit or change it within Poweramp, the paths will remain relative so it will still work on both machines if synced back to your PC.

Artists\Electric Light Orchestra\Time\12 Hold on Tight - ELO.mp3
Artists\Jim Steinman\Bad For Good\03 Dance In My Pants - Jim Steinman.mp3
Artists\Supertramp\Breakfast in America (Deluxe)\02 The Logical Song - Supertramp.mp3

Note that "/" and "\" are read interchangeably by both Poweramp and foobar, so either style will work on either program.

Andre

[andrewilley]

I've just created a general guide to creating playlists, based partly on this thread. Comments on whether it seems useful, or needs extra detail, are welcome. 

Andre