How To: Make Playlists That Suggest You Are A Discerning Purveyor of Tune

The only way to make a playlist is, as follows:

Monthly.

Use a selection of old songs. People will recognize these songs from their own playlists, or, even better, from a forgotten memory sitting dormant on their mind’s shelf. They will come to the playlist for these songs and stay for the following:

New Songs. Songs that are fresh out of the production oven. Toasty, clean, crackling hits. Or, soon-to-be-hits that will imminently explode. When they do, you, and the listeners of your playlist, will be there to hear the splat and say, ‘I told you so’. Which translates as: I listened to this when it was unknown, just another tune in the sinkhole of music streaming, and I recognized its greatness, before everyone else.

Pick ten songs, fifteen at most, eight minimum.

Too few songs hint that you thought too much about making this playlist. You consequently decided that a bereft list of titles suggested an appreciation of music, on your part. This is detestable to listeners. No-one wants to believe that anyone thinks as much about making playlists as they do. This practice highlights personal shortcomings, something a playlist should never do. On the other hand, too many songs clog the ear. There will be too much clashing between different genres.

With this in mind:

Keep genres mixed but not scrambled.

It is appropriate to create a balance between old songs and new songs. The same cannot be said for the sticky topic of genre.

However, it is, occasionally, acceptable to match some well-renowned popular songs with strange new hits.

An example: the latest single from ‘that’ indie band people listened to in school with a new, bedroom pop, seventeen-year-old girl from Nebraska. The key — people will be listening to the latter in ironic jest. This is a strong combination. Listeners of indie rock in school grow up to consume certain types of music with irony. These people were, have always been, ahead of the wave. They crested foamy lo-fi heights while you lay in the X Factor shallows. It is inevitable that people who were originally ‘too cool’ for pop music, will return to pop music, now they are ‘too cool’ for the indie scene. Full circle. Your playlist should cater for this.

Think of the listener. It is hopefully clear from the above segment that the listener fuels the art of playlist creation.

The creator is a puppet dangling from the fingers of the discerning consumer. It’s like working front of house for a controlling and violent restaurant owner. The patrons of the establishment think they are being served by you, butter-fingered waitress. But they are, in fact, controlling their server. You hang from the end of their buttery fingers. The customer is always right, even in the wrong.

Another point:

It’s ok to get it wrong. A bad playlist will draw people to your profile. It is worthwhile to create a playlist that feels wrong, or, looks wrong, upon initial glance, but is a carefully constructed type of wrong. Like a bad outfit that seeks attention on the pavement. An example: a playlist of heavy metal music titled ‘Dreamy Bops’. This is wrong. But, the playlist world trades in irony and you should use this to your advantage. Speaking of titles -

Use an eye-catching title.

Don’t call your playlist ‘Tunes’ or, even more contemptuous, ‘Pre-drinks 2019’.

These titles are not yet ironic. Though, rest assured, they will be once enough time has passed since their sincere usage. A title engaging your listener’s emotions is good. Warning: don’t make this emotional plea too obvious, no-one likes to feel used, or, in colloquial terms, put upon. Using a personal, emotional, experience as a title for your playlist ensures balance. Listeners can relate, but the title is not blatantly harboring their own, submerged, emotional tendencies.

Something like ‘Music for Lonely Tooth-Brushing’, works well.

The image levers a degree of humor. Who gets lonely brushing their teeth? Which is immediately followed by a pang of recognition: Do I get lonely brushing my teeth? The sweet spot.

One last point of concern — If you do not plump to make your playlists ‘public’, nobody will listen to them. While this might be a comforting thought, nobody wants to believe that anybody makes intricate playlists for their own pleasure. It’s like buying a greasy burger from a takeaway food restaurant and eating it alone, in your bedroom, under the darkened curtains, while making a playlist on your laptop.

Or, you don’t need to make playlists, at all, if you simply:

Add to Queue.