rekordbox playlists vs folders: which to use for new tracks
In rekordbox, playlists hold tracks, folders hold playlists, and Intelligent Playlists fill themselves. How each works and a simple layout for new music.
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In rekordbox, a playlist holds tracks and a folder holds playlists. They aren't alternatives: you put tracks in playlists, then group playlists in folders. The third piece is the Intelligent Playlist, which fills itself from rules you set. For new tracks, a good setup is one folder called something like "New", with an Intelligent Playlist for recent additions inside it and a couple of ordinary playlists for tracks you've checked.
The word "folder" causes most of the confusion, because rekordbox uses it for two different things.
Two kinds of folder
| Playlist folder | Folder on your computer | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you see it | Under Playlists in the tree view | Under Explorer in the Media Browser |
| What it contains | Playlists and other playlist folders | Music files |
| What deleting it does | Deletes the folder and the playlists in it (not the tracks) | Deleting it on disk removes the files; rekordbox then shows them as missing |
| Used for | Organizing playlists | Storing files |
rekordbox's manual explains how to show Explorer if it's hidden (Preferences › View › Layout) and how to add tracks from it to the Collection. It also lets you drag a computer folder from Explorer onto Playlists, which creates a playlist with that folder's name. That's handy for a one-off import. The manual doesn't say the playlist follows later changes to the folder, so check it after adding files.
Playlists: hand-picked lists
A playlist is a list of tracks from your Collection that you've chosen and ordered. According to the manual:
- You create one under Playlists, name it, and drag tracks into it from the Collection, other playlists or the Tag List.
- Removing a track from a playlist leaves it in the Collection.
- Deleting a playlist removes the list only.
- You can export a playlist to a text or M3U8 file for other apps.
Playlists are where your judgment lives. Will Lynch, writing for Pioneer DJ about managing music, suggests building them around situations, such as warm-up, peak time and end of the night, and getting more specific from there. Serato's equivalent is the crate, and Serato's support center notes that a track can sit in more than one crate. The same goes for rekordbox playlists.
Folders: grouping playlists
A playlist folder is a container. The manual's steps: right-click Playlists, choose Create New Folder, name it, then drag playlists into it. Two details matter:
- Selecting a folder shows the tracks of every playlist inside it. That makes a folder a quick way to search across a group, such as all your house playlists.
- Deleting a folder deletes the playlists inside it. The tracks stay in your Collection, but the lists are gone. Move any playlist you want to keep out of the folder first, or back up your library.
Serato calls the same idea subcrates: you drag crates into other crates.
Intelligent Playlists: rules instead of picking
An Intelligent Playlist lists every track that matches filters you set. The manual's steps: right-click Playlists and choose Create New Intelligent Playlist, then pick a field and a condition. Conditions include equals, contains, is in the range, and is in the last, which matches dates within a number of days or months of today. Add more filters with +, and choose whether tracks must match all of them or any of them. You can edit the rules later from the right-click menu.
What they're good for:
- A rolling "new" list. Lynch suggests an Intelligent Playlist for new music based on when tracks were added. With "is in the last", the window moves forward by itself.
- Tag-driven lists. Filters on My Tag values, tempo or key give you lists like "high energy, 124 to 128 BPM" that update as you tag tracks.
What they're not for: hand-ordered sets. Their contents come from rules, so for a gig's running order, use an ordinary playlist.
Rules can only see what's in your tags, so they work best once your tags are tidy. How to clean up a DJ library covers fixing tags in bulk.
Sorting many tracks into playlists
Filing a batch of new tracks one drag at a time gets slow. Two rekordbox features help, according to the manual:
- Playlist Palette. Assign up to four playlists to the palette and they stay visible next to the track list. Drag a track onto any of them without hunting through the tree.
- Sub Browser. Open a playlist in the sub browser and drag tracks into it from the Collection or from another playlist.
Lynch's advice for this moment is practical: when you think of a playlist a track belongs on, add it straight away rather than trusting yourself to remember later. Both features make that a two-second job.
A simple layout for new tracks
Here's one way to use all three, inside a single playlist folder called New:
- Recent additions (Intelligent Playlist): tracks added in the last month or two. Nothing to maintain.
- To prepare (playlist): new tracks you haven't gridded, cued and tagged yet. Remove each one once it's done.
- Ready to try (playlist): prepared tracks waiting for their first real set.
Next to it, keep your long-term playlists in folders by job or genre. A track moves from New into those once it has earned its place. How to prepare tracks for a DJ set covers what "prepared" involves, and the pillar guide on organizing new music before it hits your DJ library explains the stages a track passes through before it gets here.
Getting playlists onto a USB stick
How you organise playlists matters again when you export for club players. rekordbox's manual describes two ways to do it in EXPORT mode:
- Drag a playlist to the device. Drag it onto the USB stick under Devices, and rekordbox transfers the playlist and the tracks in it.
- Sync it. SYNC MANAGER keeps chosen playlists up to date on a USB stick or SD card. Tick the playlists to synchronise, and rekordbox exports them in their latest state. The manual adds that cues, beat positions and ratings changed on a DJ player can come back into rekordbox.
Not every club player reads a stick exactly the way rekordbox writes it. The same manual warns that some players limit what a playlist can be called and how its folders are arranged on the drive, and sends you to the player's own documentation for the details. A shallow layout, such as a folder per gig with a handful of playlists in it, is also easier to move through in a dark booth. Keep the New folder above on your computer, and export only what's ready to play.
What about streaming playlists?
rekordbox's streaming FAQ says playlists from Spotify, SoundCloud, Beatport and Tidal can be edited in rekordbox, but streaming tracks can't be exported to USB. Spotify playlist to rekordbox explains the limits.
Where CatchIt! fits
CatchIt! deals with tracks before they're in rekordbox at all: the finds you haven't decided on and the ones you mean to buy. It's a Mac app with a free iOS companion, not a rekordbox plugin, so your playlists and folders stay entirely in rekordbox. The terms CatchIt! uses for its own lists, such as Inbox and Wishlist, are in the glossary.
Frequently asked questions
- What's the difference between a playlist and a folder in rekordbox?
- A playlist holds tracks. A folder holds playlists (and other folders), so you can group them. Selecting a folder shows the tracks of all the playlists inside it, according to rekordbox's manual.
- Does deleting a playlist delete my music?
- No. Deleting a playlist removes the list, not the tracks in your Collection or the files on your computer. Be careful with folders, though: the manual says deleting a folder also deletes the playlists inside it.
- Can I turn a folder on my computer into a rekordbox playlist?
- Yes. The manual says you can drag a folder from Explorer onto Playlists, and rekordbox creates a playlist with the folder's name.
- Should I use Intelligent Playlists for new music?
- They suit it well. An Intelligent Playlist fills itself from filters you set, and the manual's "is in the last" condition can keep a rolling window of recent tracks without manual updates.