Has any of the new software over the years added the ability for front panel search? I'm agonizing over how to reorganize my playlists and genre tags to give me more control over what I queue up. Using many very specific genres seems the best way, but only if I can get there quickly via front panel search. Thanks.

How many genres are you thinking about ? I organize my stuff Genre->Artist->Album then I can just play the entire genre folder when I want a particular style. I only break mine up into five genres though.

I file artists into six supergenres, then an average of four genres each, a few of which have one or two subgenres. But that scheme isn't good enough, and soon I'll have 40 or 50 specific genres.

Problem is, some albums or collections of songs span multiple moods. I'm still trying to find an efficient, front panel way to both browse artists by genre but also choose tracks by mood, which is ultimately what I want.

One new thought is to fill the genre field with a single string in a special format:
Genre-Tempo-Tonality
That's roughly all I need to determine the mood of the song.
ie:
Folk-Downtempo-Major = sparse texture, calm, yet not depressing.
PopIndie-Midtempo-Minor = quirky and moody.

Well, only the most populated genres would benefit from that (ie: rock, pop, folk). I'm refiling Techno according to Ashkur's guide, so those genres will be specific enough. My Jazz collection still needs a serious subgenre treatment.

If only the empeg could take mood ring input...

Remember that tracks can appear in multiple playlists.