Export all playlists iTunes

Export iTunes Playlists

A script to export playlists from iTunes to a folder. Includes the song files and an m3u playlist file.

Created to easily export playlists and media from iTunes to Android.

NOTE:

• This script will work only with iTunes on OS X and macOS. It's written in AppleScript, a language built into the Mac operating system since Mac OS 7.

• Tested with:

  • macOS 10.11.6 - 10.14.6
  • iTunes 12.4.3 - 12.9.5.5

How to use

The script

1. Compile the script. This can be done in various ways:
   • Use the Makefile; or
   • Compile and export as an application from the Script Editor app
2. Run the app.

Integrate into iTunes

1. Compile the script
2. Move the app to ~/Library/iTunes/Scripts/
   • The make deploy command compiles the script and moves the app to the correct location.
3. Open iTunes.
4. The script can be run by opening iTunes's Script menu [scroll icon] and selecting the script's name.

Makefile

Options

The options that can be set before exporting:

• The playlists to export [one or more can be chosen].
• The location in which to export.
• The method in which to export multiple playlists:
  • Same folder - Creates a new folder and places all songs from all playlists there. All m3u playlist files are saved to a subfolder.
  • Different folders - Makes separate subfolders for each playlist. The m3u playlist is saved in this folder, and a further subfolder is made for the media files.
• The folder structure and filename rules to use for the media files.
  • Can use the iTunes metadata. Available attributes are: [album], [album artist], [artist], [composer], [track name], [track number], [disc number], [playlist order number], [original file name].
  • These attributes can be used to form the folder structure and filename.
    For example: [artist] > [album] > [track number] - [track name]
    - This will create //[artist]/[album]/file.extension.
    - The file will be renamed to [track number] - [track name], and its original extension will be kept.

Why use the script?

iTunes already has an option to export a playlist. This creates a playlist file in several formats [m3u, xml, etc.], but doesn't export the actual media files, which can make it difficult to use the exported playlists on other devices.

The script makes a copy of all media files in a playlist alongside the m3u file. However, m3u is the only format supported.