A few weeks ago, a friend of mine mentioned this new website that she discovered as she was getting ready to go out. It’s called songza.com, she explained, and it creates playlists for everything! She had just tried the “getting ready with your girlfriends” playlist and loved it, and I immediately knew I had to explore this site.
So last Thursday, when my midterms were almost over and break was about to begin, I went on Songza and instantly loved it.
Here’s how it works: when you first enter the site, it lists the day and time. So, when I went on Thursday night, the drop down menu read: Thursday Night. Under that, there are five different kinds of playlist. On a Thursday Night, the five choices were: “Love and Romance”, “Unwinding”, “Brand New Music” “Bedtime”, and “Pregaming with Friends”. If you were to click on “Unwinding”, you get five more choices! They are: “Atmospheric Indie”, “Mellow Indie”, “Modern Country”, “Electronic Chillout”, and “Laid-back Rap”. Being the big Country fan that I am, I selected modern country, and then I had to choose between “Country Summer”, “Modern Countrypolitan” and “Neotraditional Country”. I chose “Country Summer” and was greeted by Zac Brown Band (one of my absolute favorites), followed by Blake Shelton (another fave).
But let’s say that your Thursday was not quite as relaxing as mine, and you need some serious pump up music to get you through your ten page paper due Friday morning. No problem. You have two options: you can change the drop down menu to “Thursday Evening” and select “Working with Lyrics” which offers the choice of “Upbeat Indie”, “Pop”, “Best of the ‘90s”, “Country”, and “Rap and R&B”. I selected “Upbeat Indie”, and then “Commercial Indie Pop”. I won’t lie, the first song did not pump me up (“Are you ready?” by Fatty Gets a Stylist), so I tried a different tactic. Songza allows you to switch your day and time, so I selected “Saturday, Late Morning”, and found a playlist for “Working out” (Much to my delight, they also had a playlist for “Drinking Gourmet Coffee”). Again, I had five choices, and I selected “Electronic”. The first of the first song, “Bong,” by Deniz Koyu piqued my interest, and I felt ready to work (or at least do a couple miles on the treadmill).
Having trouble making a playlist for your pregame or party? No problem! Songza has a “Pregaming with Friends” list. I selected “Party Rap”, and then “00’s Club Bangers”. When I first tried this one, “Headsprung” by LL Cool J came on, and not only was I ready to go out, but I was left feeling a little nostalgic for the middle school dances where that song used to play but most of the words were bleeped out. I also tried out the “’90s Party Jamz”, and while I wasn’t a fan of the first song, I did enjoy “Who Am I (What’s my Name)?” by Snoop Dogg. Under “House Party”, I selected “Today’s Indie Dance Hits”, then “Saturday Night Soirre,” and I really enjoyed the first song, “We Own the Night (Original Mix)” by DJ Tiesto.
My initial reaction: Songza. Is. Awesome. It has a playlist (and a sub play list) for everything. Want to listen to music when you’re drifting off to sleep? They have a playlist for that. Do you feel like having a little stress relieving dance party after your Monday classes finish? They have “A Weekday Dance Party” playlist. There’s a playlist for “Getting Lucky”, “Putting on Your Party Dress”, and even “Saving the World”. Not only will you be sure to hear plenty of your favorites, but you’ll also hear some new songs that you might just want to add to your collection. Songza can be a bit overwhelming since there are SO many choices, but if I were you, I would hop on Songza right now to find your perfect playlist!