Library & files
Play count
Play count is the number the software increments each time a track is played past a threshold. It is the only field in a library that records what you actually did rather than what you intended.
Measured in real DJ libraries
67.4% of a real DJ library has never been played once, and the tracks that have been played sit at a median of 2.
Two thirds of a prepared collection is untouched, and the played third mostly got played twice. That is not a failure of discipline — it is what a library looks like when you buy faster than you gig. It does mean the useful question is never "what should I add" but "what have I already got that I have never once reached for".
67.4%
Never played
2
Median plays, if played
3.0%
Played ten times or more
151
The busiest single track
Updated daily from Rekordbox collections DJs have imported to Mixgraph. Method: how to cull a library.
Why it matters
It is the most honest column you own, because you did not fill it in. Genre, rating and comments record your opinion at the moment of import; play count records the records you kept reaching for at one in the morning, which is a different and far more useful list.
It is also the fastest cull tool there is. Sorting a bloated collection by plays ascending shows you the part of the library that has never earned its place, and doing that once a season is the difference between a collection and an archive.
Frequently asked
Does play count increase when I preview a track?+
It depends on the software and the threshold. Most only count a play after a proportion of the track has elapsed, which is why browsing does not inflate it but a long preview sometimes does.
Should I delete tracks I have never played?+
Not automatically — a lot of them were bought for a night that has not happened yet. Sort by plays ascending, listen to twenty, and move the ones that still do nothing for you out of the working library.
Does play count sync between my laptop and a USB stick?+
Only if you import the history back afterwards. Playing from a stick in a club updates the device, and the counts stay there unless you bring the history home.
Related terms
History playlist
A history playlist is the list DJ software and club players record automatically as you play — every track, in order, with a timestamp. You do not create it; it is written whether or not you ask.
Star rating
A star rating is a one-to-five score you assign a track by hand. Nothing writes it for you, which makes it the most deliberate field in a library and the one most often left empty.
Smart playlist
A smart playlist is a saved rule rather than a saved list. You describe what belongs in it — tempo band, genre, rating, date range — and the software fills and refills it as the library changes.
Crate digging
Crate digging is the search for records nobody has handed you — going past the charts and the promo mail into back catalogue, reissues and things filed where you were not looking.
Explore: Culling your track list · Library health check · Crate · All DJ terms