Re: While you're all brainstorming...

We're really not that far apart on this, but the comment that you'd like to see less windows is where I have to disagree. Right now there is a single window with a lot of panes. That's where I have a problem because the active playlist occupies one and only one pane and you can't ever really be working with two at the same time unless you save one, load the other, etc. If a playlist were an independant object from the "main pane", you now have the ability technically to drag/drop between playlists. You can have as many open as you wish to be doing something to. Also to construct one while you're playing another. Since I have music going pretty much 24/7 I'm particularly interested in doing this. Or "gee, that song would be great for both 'party tunes' and 'general rock'". I might want to add it to both at the same time.

Whether you want to call it a playlist or virtual album doesn't matter to me. Sure, it would be cool to have an independant 'cover art' for each one. If you treat one of these as the center of attention of the program (because they are); you can allow them to be manipulated in increasingly complex ways. I think the point you're making is that with the equivalent of a programmer's "include" statement, you could create meta-playlists which contained others. So if I'm throwing a party I might want to generate something that consisted of

50's/60's general rock jazz/blues (mellow out while everybody is eating) 80's music mega-dance music mellow out music (to incite the guests to leave at some point)

So this would also be a playlist, but the contents are just the names of other playlists to execute.