Music shapes just about every aspect of our lives. Being able to organize and curate unique lists of songs from your favorite artists and albums is a special ability that any music-lover can master. Building playlists specific to your own taste and mood will take time, research, and patience, but the end result is worth it. Music is proven to boost our mental and emotional health, reduce stress, and allows us to relive nostalgic memories. Whether it is one giant playlist of your all-time favorites or a selection of songs for any and every mood, creating playlists is for you.
THE FIRST STEPS
Before you dive into the “Your Library” tab on your favorite music streaming app, sit back and think to yourself: “Why am I creating this playlist?” Is it for a specific emotion you are feeling? Time of day? Event? Favorite artist or music genre? Memory you are trying to relive (or trying to lose)?
All of these reasons are the perfect excuse to open up that app and begin your research. But in order to maintain the same feeling and purpose behind your composition, you must keep asking yourself the same question when scrolling through songs and artists to add or remove.
Spice up your playlist
One of the biggest artist blocks in building a playlist is naming it. The title of your playlist can vary in length and description, ranging from “Sad Songs” to “Late Night Driving in Summer Rain Thinking About My Ex.” Unless the songs you are choosing have a specific meaning or relation to one another, aim to keep the name short and sweet!
If you want, add emojis to spice up the titles of your playlists! For example, if you are curating a playlist for a night out with your girls, you can add a disco ball, hearts, or sparkles next to the name. If it is a playlist to play in the middle of the night when you are feeling lonely, add the moon or headphones.
Most music streaming apps allow users to add a playlist cover photo next to the title. Inspiration for playlist covers can be found on Pinterest, Twitter, or on the web. Many music lovers also use their favorite album covers as a cover picture (or pictures of their favorite artist) if they are theming the playlist to that specific artist or music style.
Deciding What To add
Here is the most difficult part: deciding what to add to your playlist (and what to not). Now that you have decided on the main theme and named your playlist, it’s time to select songs! There are a few ways to go about this:
- Look through your favorite artists/albums. If your playlist is centered around your favorite music or albums, then looking within those artists and albums is the best way to find more music you will love. Users can also find similar artists to the particular artist they are browsing, so check it out! This feature will expand your music taste and broaden your listening history, all while helping you build the perfect playlist.
- Browse genre categories in the app. Large music streaming websites like Spotify and Apple curate their own playlists of genre and genre-based listening for users to browse and take inspiration from. This can be the perfect feature for a particular emotion or event you are building your playlist around.
- Find inspiration from other similar-themed playlists. By using the search features on these apps, users are able to find playlists created by other users. The best results would be found by title, specific songs or artists featured in the playlists, or by description. Get busy searching, and don’t be afraid to take inspiration from others!
- Ask friends/family! Still stuck on where to find inspo? Ask the people closest to you! Whether it is a family member, significant other, best friend, or stranger, anyone can suggest music. Find out what they have recently listened to, or their all-time favorite artist or music album.
Final Thoughts & Inspo
Creating playlists is a fun, mindful activity that can also enhance your music taste. Whether you are browsing through premade playlists or carefully building up songs for the perfect date, your creativity and uniqueness is flowing like a river. Take as much time as you need creating your dream playlist, and have fun!
Finally, here are some suggestions I have curated for playlist themes/titles based on a few categories:
- Sad/Nostalgic: therapy session, right person wrong time, 3:00 am
- Beachy/Summer: windows down, hot girl summer, Pogue life, is it summer yet?
- Lit/Dance: young and free, GET LIT!, bass boosted, good vibes
- Productive/Study: chill, to-do list, study sesh
- Other: 70s/80s, in love, pregame hits, throwbacks, late night drives, protagonist