Imploded Software

Playlists let you organise your music into curated collections that you can play, share, and export. Helium supports two types: standard playlists, where you add and arrange tracks manually, and smart playlists, where Helium builds the track list automatically based on rules you define. Both types can be grouped into folders and, with a Premium licence, shared across users.

Opening the Playlists view

Click the Playlists button in the left navigation bar to open the view at any time. You can also reach your playlists from the Music Explorer view by expanding the Playlists node in the tree.

The view layout

The Playlists view is divided into two panels.

Left panel — playlist list

• Two tab buttons at the top switch between PLAYLISTS and SMART PLAYLISTS.
• Below the tabs: a New Folder button, a New Playlist (or New Smart Playlist) button, a Type to filter text box for live filtering, and a ... actions menu.
• The list shows folders and playlists. Folders display a badge with the number of items they contain. Playlists display a track count badge, their creation date, a padlock icon if locked, a shared icon if shared, and an asterisk (*) prefix if set as the default playlist.

Right panel — track list

• Selecting a playlist displays its tracks on the right.
• A status bar at the bottom of the track list shows the total number of tracks and the combined playtime.
• When you have unsaved track order changes, a Save / Cancel bar appears above the track list.

Standard playlists

Creating a playlist

To create a playlist:

1. Click the New Playlist button in the left panel, or right-click anywhere in the playlist list and choose New Playlist.
2. In the dialog that appears, type a name in the Playlist Name field, or select an existing playlist from the dropdown to add to it.
3. If you have a Premium licence and are creating a root-level playlist, a Shared checkbox is available — tick it to make the playlist visible to all users sharing the same Helium database.
4. Click OK.

To create a folder:

1. Click the New Folder button, or right-click in the list and choose New Folder.
2. Type a name and click OK.

Folders can be nested inside other folders to any depth. Drag playlists into folders to organise them however you like.

Adding tracks to a playlist

There are several ways to add tracks to a standard playlist:

• Right-click a track or selection of tracks in any view and choose Add to Playlist. A dialog lets you pick an existing playlist or create a new one.
• Right-click an album in any view and choose Add to Playlist to add all of the album's tracks at once.
• Drag tracks from the right-panel track list and drop them onto a playlist name in the left panel.
• From the Play Queue: right-click a track in the Play Queue and choose Add to Playlist.
• Default Playlist shortcut: a configurable keyboard shortcut adds selected tracks directly to the default playlist without opening any dialog. If no default playlist has been set, the playlist dialog opens first.
• Drop Zone: drag tracks onto the Drop Zone button in the player bar at the bottom of the window to add them to the default playlist instantly.

Reordering tracks

Drag rows up or down within the right-panel track list to reorder them. Depending on your settings in Options, changes are either saved automatically when you switch to another playlist, or held until you click Save or Cancel in the bar that appears at the top of the track list.

Removing tracks

• Right-click a track in the track list and choose Remove.
• Alternatively, open the track's file properties (right-click → Properties), go to the Playlists tab, and click Remove.

Renaming and deleting

• To rename a playlist or folder, select it and press F2, or right-click and choose Rename.
• To delete a playlist or folder, select it and press Delete, or right-click and choose Remove. A confirmation dialog is shown before anything is removed. Locked playlists cannot be deleted.

Playing a playlist

• Double-click the playlist in the left panel to play it immediately. This replaces the current play queue.
• Right-click → Play does the same thing.
• Right-click → Enqueue Next inserts all tracks from the playlist directly after the currently playing track.
• Right-click → Enqueue Last appends all tracks to the end of the play queue.

More options

Right-clicking a standard playlist gives you the following additional options.

Open in New Window
Opens the playlist in a floating window with its own Play, Enqueue Next, Enqueue Last, Shuffle, and Export actions.

Shuffle
Randomly reorders the tracks stored in the playlist.

Sort by BPM
Reorders the playlist's tracks by their BPM value.

Key Mix
Reorders the playlist using harmonic mixing rules. Tracks must have BPM and music key values stored — music keys can be analysed from the Tag Editor or with an external tool such as Mixed In Key.

Remove Duplicates
Removes any duplicate track entries from the playlist.

Copy / Cut / Paste
Copies or moves the playlist to a different folder.

Export
Exports the playlist to a file or external service. Available formats:

Import

• Import from file: select one or more M3U, M3U8, or PLS files. Helium reads the file, adds any tracks not already in your library, and creates a new playlist using the filename as the playlist name.
• Import from Spotify (Premium): imports your Spotify playlists via OAuth.

Advanced options

Smart playlists

What is a smart playlist?

A smart playlist builds its track list automatically, based on rules you define. Every time you select a smart playlist, Helium evaluates the rules against your entire library and shows the matching tracks — you never add tracks to it manually. This makes smart playlists ideal for things like "my top-rated tracks from the last six months", "Jazz I have never played", or "anything added this month over five minutes long".

Creating a smart playlist

1. Switch to the SMART PLAYLISTS tab in the left panel.
2. Click New Smart Playlist, or right-click in the list and choose New Smart Playlist.
3. The Smart Playlist editor opens, showing a list of rule rows. Each rule row has four parts:
   • Field — the metadata to filter on, such as Artist, Album, Rating, Genre, Last Played, Play Counter, BPM, Mood, Language, Added Date, or File Size.
   • Operator — how to compare, such as Contains, Is, Is At Least, In The Last, or Is Empty. The available operators change depending on the field type.
   • Value — what to compare against: a text box, date picker, star rating, number, and so on.
   • AND / OR — how this rule connects to the next one.
4. Use the + button to add a rule and the − button to remove one. Use the ( ) parenthesis buttons to group rules for more complex logic.
5. Optionally, enable the Limiter at the bottom of the editor (see below).
6. Click Save, then enter a name for the playlist.

Example rules:

• Rating → Is At Least → ★★★★ AND Last Played → In The Last → 30 Days — highly rated tracks you have listened to recently.
• Genre → Contains → Jazz AND Play Counter → Is → 0 — Jazz tracks you have never played.
• Added Date → In The Last → 1 Month OR Is Favourite Track → True — recent additions or favourites.

The Limiter

The Limiter caps the number of results returned when there are more matches than you need.

1. Tick the Limiter checkbox at the bottom of the editor.
2. Enter a maximum number and choose a unit: Songs, Minutes, Hours, Megabytes, or Gigabytes.
3. Choose how tracks are selected when there are more matches than the limit — options include Highest Rating, Lowest Rating, Most Played, Least Played, Most Recently Played, Least Recently Played, Most Recently Added, Least Recently Added, and Random.

For example: "Limit to 25 songs, selected by Highest Rating" gives you your 25 top-rated tracks that match the rules.

Editing a smart playlist

Right-click the smart playlist in the left panel and choose Edit Smart Playlist. The rule editor reopens with the existing rules loaded. Make your changes and click Save.

Playing and exporting

Smart playlists support the same Play, Enqueue Next, Enqueue Last, and Export options as standard playlists. When you export a smart playlist, Helium evaluates the rules first and exports the resulting tracks.

Keyboard shortcuts

Tips and related articles

• Your playlists are also accessible from the Music Explorer view — expand the Playlists node in the tree to browse and interact with them without leaving that view.
• For full details on synchronising a playlist to a device or folder, see the File & Device Synchronization article.
• Smart playlist rules use the same fields available in Helium's advanced search. For a complete field reference, see the Searching for Data article.