These days with Apps like Spotify and Sound-Cloud, playlists have become the most simple and efficient way to organise your music.
So how do you make a fantastic playlist? I’m no expert but here are 8 tips I believe will be helpful in making a playlist for any occasion.
The first step when making your playlist is to think about your potential audience. Why are you making the playlist and who are you aiming it at? What do you want your listeners to feel or experience when they listen to your playlist? Your goal should always be to include songs the majority, if not all of your audience will enjoy. Remember, playlists are meant to be shared and in order to do so you must include songs for a varied audience.
By having a purpose and theme you’ll make it easier for yourself to create a unique yet cohesive playlist. The direction you want to take your playlist in in terms of theme will also aid you in the process of song selection. For example, if you are making a playlist of a roundup of the best songs of 2019, you can narrow your song selection down to just songs released in 2019 while still mixing different genres and artists. Get creative when picking your playlists theme and purpose and maybe even combine a few!
Bear in mind that making a playlist is all about balance. So, when it comes to playlist making I would always suggest mixing old and new. Mixing current “chart” songs with old classics will assure your playlist is a crowd pleaser. Sometimes you can even find new tracks which use samples of a an older song to add to your playlist. For example, Kanye West famously sampled Curtis Mayfield’s 1971 hit “Move On Up” for his song ‘Touch the Sky” which was released in 2005. Modern takes on old classics like this will please an audience of many different age groups and will also provide you with a smooth transition to the next song on the playlist whether it be new or old.
It’s very important to remember not to add too few or too many songs to your playlist. We’re all guilty of throwing hundreds of songs into one big playlist and calling it a day. However, a general rule of thumb when it comes to playlist making is to keep it between 40-60 songs long. This translates to approximately 3 hours of music. Making your playlist this length means you’re guaranteed one that will fit your purpose and theme, keep your audience engaged and will include all the artists and songs you want it to. A playlist this long also caters to the inevitability of people skipping songs, so even if they do decide to do so they’ll still have a couple of hours of music listening without getting bored.
This step is exactly what it says. Try not to add multiple songs by the same artist to your playlist and if you must, stick to a maximum of three songs. You want your playlist to be diverse and have a sense of variety which it will lack if you feature the same artist more than once or twice. Make sure to incorporate numerous artists, genres, speeds, instruments, beats etc into your playlist to keep people on their toes when listening. By not repeating artists in your playlist you may even expose your audience to new artists they’ve not yet discovered!
It’s important to keep your playlist up to date and relevant for your audience especially if you want your playlist to be used more than once. That’s not to say you need to make a completely new playlist or switch the majority of songs on the one you’ve already made. By simply adding a few new songs or taking some out each week you can keep your playlist constantly updated. The idea is to keep the playlist fresh and encourage your audience to keep using your playlist for its purpose.
Make sure to give your playlists a few listens before making it public. If it’s a playlist for studying then go ahead and take out your books and turn on your playlist. You may decide there’s a few songs that shouldn’t be in there and a few you may want to add. This should be the time to make any little tweaks and changes in order to make the playlist truly perfect for its purpose.
Congratulations!!! Your playlist is finally complete and ready to be put out there and listened to. You can sit back and enjoy what you’ve created and hope your audience does too!