Creating a Playlist on a usb/thumb drive?

I've created a music playlist as a gift, consisting of mp3 downloads. I want to have the playlist exported from a PC Windows 7, to a thumb/flash drive so that the person I'm giving it to can insert the thumb drive into his android phone and have it play in order of the playlist.

I already found out that in order to do this, I must create an m3u file, otherwise the the thumb drive will simply file and play the songs alphabetically, rather chronologically as they're arranged in the playlist.

How do I do this? I googled the process extensively and attempted it myself but failed. I created an m3u file of the playlist, and transferred that, along with the mp3 songs onto the thumb drive, however it doesn't play when I insert the drive into my phone (Samsung 7) unless I click on each song. I want it to either play automatically, or play the entire playlist after clicking "play."

I need step by step instructions from start to end in layman terms. It's for my boyfriend of over 2 years who is in the hospital receiving chemo treatments. So I'm desperate to get this to work.

Thank you so much.

Edited by Oleander, 11 March 2018 - 09:42 PM.

This is something I have never done. I have a USB full of MP3 tracks that I use in the car on long trips but they are all on the top level of the USB stick and I just use shuffle or random play. Since it is all music I have collected or chosen this suits me. But a suggestion, since I don't know how you have this stick organised.

 

Try putting the music tracks into a folder with the same name as the playlist file and leave the playlist file on the top level. So that if you looked at the USB stick in File Explorer you would see something like this -

 

Folder  :-  Music for Fred              (this contains all the music tracks)

File      :-  Music for Fred.m3u       (the playlist file)

 

No guarrantees but it might be the solution and it wouldn't take long to try.

 

Chris Cosgrove

Thank you Chris I'll try that as soon as I get home.

Okay, what do you mean by top level?

And once I have the m3u file, along with the mp3 files ready on my pc- do I just drag them onto the flash drive file?

I put all the mp3's in a folder and named it the same as the m3u file. It still didn't work. And by work I mean, my phone recognized the mp3's and I could select each song and play. Phone also saw the m3u file, but could not open it.

So I'm still in the same conundrum: A USB full of music files in alphabetical order (rather being played according to the m3u file playlist), that only play the song I select... one at a time, not continuously from first song to the last.

I was hoping to have the playlist done by now so that my fiance could listen to the music while in the hospital. I can't believe this is so difficult to figure out. Or maybe I'm just that tech challenged

Playlist files (m3u and other similar formats/standards) can be a bit weird, a lot of devices which do recognise and handle mp3 audio files don't seem to understand these playlist files, especially cheaper player devices. m3u files are infact text, you can make them just by typing in notepad and saving with the correct extension, if you learn the formatting convention for the text, but they won't always work. You have the files on a USB but what device will your fiance be trying to use to play the sound? That might give us clues on other things you could do to get them playing out in order.

He will be playing it on his phone- Moto Z Play.

I used WMP to create the m3u file, but since I didn't actually create it myself (nor found a way to open and view the file) I have no idea how it is written.

I'm also not a tech person, so I'm having a difficult time understanding how to write it myself using Windows Notepad. Someone wanted to charge me $100 to do it for me!

So I'm feeling a bit like a customer bringing their car into an auto shop, where prices are jacked up, and unnecessary services added because the employee knows he can prey on those who are mechanically ignorant.

 

because the employee knows he can prey on those who are mechanically ignorant.

 

At least you don't have to worry about that here !  My suggestion above was just an idea but what i meant was that if you looked at the contents of your USB in File/Windows Explorer you should see when you click on the USB stick to see the contents you should see one file - the playlist file - and one folder, contining the MP3 files.

 

Two other things come to mind. Has your boyfriend got an app on his phone which will allow him to run a playlist fiile that doesn't come from Spotify or Google Play or elsewhere like that ?  Something like the Mbits MP3 player ?  The other thing is does he have enough memory on his phone for what you want to do ?

 

Chris Cosgrove

Hi Oleander!

 

To contribute further to the information  already shared above, it's awesome that you shared what phone your boyfriend will use to play his music (https://www.motorola.com/we/products/moto-z-play)

 

As mentioned above, m3u files (extensions) are text not audio format. Without spending time on why you cannot use the m3u files, we need to concentrate on only working with your music MP3 format (or other below.)

 

Music formats you can play on the Moto Z Play phone:

Your phone can play many types of files: MP3, M4A, AAC, ACC+, MIDI, WAV, and
OGG Vorbis.  Note: Your phone does not support any DRM protected files.

Note: For WMA files, we recommend you use an audio converter software to convert .wma to .mp3

 

For the time being, a Flash drive is not necessary to transfer music to your boyfriend’s phone. Take a look at this link to learn how to transfer music to the phone: https://motorola-global-en-uk.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/77744#What_music_file_formats_can_I_play

 

You will find these categories in the webpage:

 

How do I transfer and use music files?

The solution below will provide you with information on:  

 

Use Motorola Media Link

What music transfer tools do I need?

What music file formats can I play?

What headphones can I use?

Transfer music files from a computer to your memory card.

Transfer using USB

Transfer files to/from my computer using MAC or PC    

Access and play music

Stream and Sync your music from your computer over the air.      

 

 

Regarding the music playing in alphabetical order, typically most media players will indeed organize (by default) music alphabetically. We need to know what source you used to create your playlist in order to see if the playlist can be organized other than alpha. (For example Windows Media Player, iTunes) (Note: in your default Music folder in File Explorer, there is a way to sort your music other than alphabetically (-> View tab -> Sort) 

 

Question: When you downloaded your music to the computer, was the music audio format MP3, or did you convert the music from a different format (extension?) 

 

Take time to absorb the above information and of course we are here to continue assisting you!

 

 

P.S. I find what you are doing for your boyfriend just so loving and wonderful, give yourself a hug!)

 

 

https://www.lifewire.com/m3u-file-2621955 That link describes m3u files in a bit more detail, including how to make one in notepad for yourself. Although I can't be sure personally if that motorola phone can handle m3u files.

Thank you everyone! I truly appreciate it. This was actually supposed to be a Valentine's day gift, however his diagnosis came around that time, and with work and the hospital he's in being an hour and a half away, it's been difficult to get this done. So I am so very grateful for all of your kindness.

I actually found a Google music manager that allows me to "manage" my Google music account from the pc. So if I go that route, I'll have to be sneaky and get his account password so that I can set the playlist up and sync it to his phone without him knowing.

I'm going to try all of those options you guys have suggested though.

Note: The songs are in mp3 format. Originally downloaded to my phone, I've copied those mp3 files to my PC. I used WMP to only create the m3u file. The songs are still in mp3 format, and to get them on the flash drive I simply dragged and dropped them from the pc.

I can solve part of the problem:  getting your songs to play in the correct order.   I am using iTunes on a Mac and have a CD burner.

First, create your playlist in iTunes.  Next,  burn playlist to CD in mpg format.  This allows more than 100 songs in a playlist to be burned on disc.

Next, select all songs on the CD just created and copy them to the thumb drive or SD card.   ITunes will embed a new track number to each song so the songs maintain their original order when on the thumb drive. 

 

That's all there is to it.

Edited by joselori, 03 August 2018 - 03:44 PM.

IME...the use of a playlist is dependent upon the software and has nothing to do with the storage media, whether CD/DVD, hard drive, USB device.  It is the player chosen for use...which utilizes and stores the playlists which are chosen to be created.

 

Without a playlist...the songs recorded will play in either random format (if selected) or in sequential order.

 

I use .mp3 players to store the music I listen to when jogging...but I don't use the software which comes with those players, preferring to either just set the player to random or allow sequential playing.

 

Louis

This worked for me the numbers after #EXTINF: is the number of seconds in the audio track,track name
This is what the playlist looks like in VLC

the file name is - playlist.m3u

 

Edited by ryu6969, 22 December 2020 - 09:56 PM.

I have a flash drive that contains all my (current) favorite music. I use this in my car and it is really more convenient than a dozen CDs!

My flash drive is organized with each music file named, and I just number them in order that I want played. My player in my car reads the number and plays in numerical order. Not sure if this will work for you though, I am no expert.