Syncing Playlists with Windows Media Player

Can I create playlists with Windows Media Player, then sync the playlist and its content to the Clip Sport with the wmp sync function?  This was very easy with the Clip zip.  I read somplace that  the Clip Sport required you to create the playlist and put it in the same folder as the songs, then use explorer to move it to the Clip Sport?

Have you figured this out? I have a new Clip Sport. Have upgraded the firmware.  I would very much prefer to use WMP to synch files as I have done in the past with my previous Sansa MP3 player. I’m reluctant to start playing around with copying files for fear of losing them or creating issues that I won’t know how to undo.

You can create a playlist in WMP, then sync the playlist.  But all that this does is transfer the music that was in your playlist.  The playlist does not show up under the Playlist menu like it did on the Clip Zip. I needed to transfer the music and all of the different playlists that I created.  There is a link in the conversation below.  There seems to be a way to create playlists and save them, but it seems that you also have to create separate folders for each playlist.  Also, each folder has to contain all of the music for that playlist.  I ended up returning the Clip Sport.  This mp3 player from Sony works with WMP and syncs both music and playlists just like the Clip Zip.  http://www.amazon.com/Sony-NWZE384-Walkman-Video-Player/dp/B00ECRPOKS/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1428375809&sr=1-2&keywords=sony+walkman+mp3+player     I ended up purchasing the Sony and am very pleased with it.

Below is part of a conversation that I had with Sandisk support.  

Jeff Markman: how can I get the playlist to transfer also?
James G.: Jeff, clip sport only supports m3u playlist. Please follow the steps given in the below link.
http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/14337/
Jeff Markman: So you are saying that the ability to transfer the playlist directly from windows media player was removed from the clip sport?
Jeff Markman: This was a very easy process with the clip zip.  the procedure you sent me is too difficult for a casual PC user.
James G.: I understand. But clip zip supports MTP mode, because of which the playlist was transferred that way. However Clip sport has MSC mode. It supports only M3U files.
Jeff Markman: I do not understand any of that.  All I know is that this mp3 player is not usable for the person who will be using it.  The process is not too difficult.  
Jeff Markman: We will return this for a refund.  
Jeff Markman: Does sandisk make any MP3 players that support the MTP mode?
James G.: Yes Jeff, other players like Clip+. Fuze+ , Clip Zip . They all have MTP as well as MSC mode.

1 Like

@jeffm wrote:

…it seems that you also have to create separate folders for each playlist.  Also, each folder has to contain all of the music for that playlist.

The latter is a very misleading advice and actually completely wrong. You can create playlists with Foobar2000 or Winamp (and others) and save them on the Sport. It’s simple: Connect the Sport to the computer, open the Sport’s drive, open Foobar, drag and drop the folders or files from the Sport you want to add to the playlist to Foobar’s playlist editor, choose «File» / «Save playlist…» and save it as .m3u to the root folder (!) of the Sport.

Just tested: It doesn’t matter if you save the playlist on the internal memory or the card – as long as it’s on the root folder. You can also mix files from internal and external memory on the playlist.

So let me get this straight.  With the Clip Sport, I can have my music in any folder or combination of folders.  Then all I have to do is create .m3u playlists on my PC, then copy them onto the root of the mp3 player storage.  Is this correct?  And I should see them in the Playlists menu of the mp3 player?

I should not have to play games to create/transfer playlists created in WMP.

Thankfully my old Sansa Fuze player (c2007) still works and syncs with WMP without any other intervention on my part. I dislike iTunes so much that I’ve avoided it at all costs for YEARS! I’m NOT about to waste another moment on a messy product. I liked the idea of the clip, small size and upgrading storage size… But just not worth it. If my Sansa Fuze dies I’ll just resort to using the Amazon music app on my iPhone. Life is short.

@jeffm wrote:

So let me get this straight.  With the Clip Sport, I can have my music in any folder or combination of folders.  Then all I have to do is create .m3u playlists on my PC, then copy them onto the root of the mp3 player storage.  Is this correct?  And I should see them in the Playlists menu of the mp3 player?

No, saving the playlist on the computer and copying it to the player won’t work; you have to save it to the player from the start. Yes, you’ll see the playlist listed in the Sport’s menu, in the respective drive («Music» or «Card»).

@jhancock01 wrote:
I should not have to play games to create/transfer playlists created in WMP.

Thankfully my old Sansa Fuze player (c2007) still works and syncs with WMP without any other intervention on my part. I dislike iTunes so much that I’ve avoided it at all costs for YEARS! I’m NOT about to waste another moment on a messy product. I liked the idea of the clip, small size and upgrading storage size… But just not worth it. If my Sansa Fuze dies I’ll just resort to using the Amazon music app on my iPhone. Life is short.

I have no idea why this is «playing games» for you. I can’t imagine anything more simple than the described procedure.

This is all well and good that saving it to the device directly from WMP allows the device to “see” the file…it still winds up being empty and will not actually play any music synched directly thru WMP…

Note that I went through all of these steps:

http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/14337/~/creating-m3u-playlists-for-the-clip-sport%2Fjam

And this DOES work, but it obviously a huge pain

If it helps anyone else, i was able to create playlists in m3u format *without* moving all the files in the playlist to a single directory containing the m3u file…  The trick is picking a target directory for the m3u file on your PC whose relative path to the “Music” folder matches the relative path from the “Playlists” folder to the “Music” folder on the Clip Sport itself.  In my case, I use the “Desktop” folder since wmp then uses “…/Music/<artist>/<song>” as the relative path from the playlist to the music.

  1. start wmp
  2. find existing playlist
  3. click play tab
  4. click ”Clear list” if needed
  5. drag playlist to play tab work area to expand all the songs in the work area
  6. right-click playlist –> rename
  7. copy playlist name to clipboard (so you don’t have to retype the playlist name in the save as dialog)
  8. escape (to cancel rename)
  9. click top List options “Save list as” to make a copy of playlist in m3u format on the desktop
  10. select Desktop
  11. select m3u file format
  12. paste playlist name from clipboard as playlist file name
  13. ok
  14. you now have a copy of the playlist in m3u format on your desktop, with appropriate paths of the form “…\music\artist\song”
  15. copy this m3u file to E:\Playlist folder (where your sandisk clip sport is mounted)
  16. delete m3u file from desktop
  17. wmp will eventually figure out there is only one playlist in the original location (temporarily, it will have two playlists, only one of which will work, since you deleted the m3u list from the desktop already)

Hello,

I don’t think that a natural sync can be made from the windows media player program.

As I too stumbled into this issue, after previously synced my sansa player directly from WMP, I have developed a python script to workaround this issue:

https://github.com/eyalitki/Playlists-Scripts

The script will export your original playlist, and convert it to a supported .m3u playlist on the music player.

Hope it will be helpful.

 I have created a playlist by copying music files on my Sandisk Sport into Windows Media Player, gave it an unique name and saved in the Scandisk Sport in the Playlists as a M3U file When viewing the Scandisk it shows as an m3U file in Playlists. If i then go to Folder/Playlists and highlight the file and press the Play/Pause/Scoll up control it just move between the files in the Playlist folder. If I press the Power/Select control it displays file format not supported. Any suggestions or assistance?  

Take a look at this message describing a way to use Windows Media Player to create m3u Playlists for the Clip Sport and Clip Jam. This message already has 4 Kudos !!!

  http://forums.sandisk.com/t5/SanDisk-Clip-Sport-Plus/M3U-playlist-empty/m-p/364455#M332

VERY SIMPLE FIX!!! TO CREATE PLAYLIST ON SANDISK MP3 PLAYER

USE  SYNC PLAYLIST 7.5 (FREE DOWNLOAD)

SETTINGS TO CHECK WILL BE:

WRITE AS M3U FORMAT NOT WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER PLAYLIST

AND BOX BELOW IT