The Art Of The Playlist

The advent of Spotify and the joyous way it enables you to listen to music online has been nothing short of revolutionary. Sure, there have been numerous ways of streaming music legitimately for some while, but not as easy and as satisfying as Spotify. And because it is so easy, the concept of playlists has taken on new life. With a Spotify playlist, music can be shared quickly and, best of all, collaboratively. And because of the surge in popularity, websites like ShareMyPlaylists.com have sprung up all over the place. I could mention the others, but a simple Google search will unearth them all for you. ShareMyPlaylists does appear to be one of the better ones with a simple user interface and ratings system, and great communications with it's users too.

Now, I have created a small number of playlists which are hosted there and I am very pleased with the responses I have got on them. But having trawled through many lists on there and other playlist sites, it became quite clear that many of them were a major letdown or just totally ill conceived from the get go. With all due respect to those that created them (and I won't be naming & shaming), a little more thought and care could have turned them into excellent and viable lists. So I got to thinking about what constitutes a great playlist.

The first major sin committed by a dodgy playlist creator is to chuck in entire albums of their favourite bands. If I wanted the whole of Blur, I'd just search Blur directly in Spotify and away I go. Worse still are playlists that contain just one album. Bizarre!

Secondly, a list that claims to contain the "best of" a particular artist or genre should be approached with caution. I did one called the Best Of The 80's and knew that I couldn't possibly get everything, but I made sure that I covered as many bases as possible.

Next on the list is the length of the playlist. Make the list worthwhile. Don't make it too short and don't be afraid to make it too long. But always keep it relevant. Know when to stop.

Artwork for your playlist is a must, just like an album sleeve is. Make it relevant and make it punchy. The image must also convey the sentiment of the playlist.

Song placement within the list is a matter of taste really. You could organise it track by track, but bear in mind that Spotify has a shuffle feature so your careful planning might be undone in an instant. When compiling your list, you can sometimes be hit by a wave of inspiration and add in large swathes of tracks, only to find that you want them all in a different order. This can prove to be a bit of an effort, so I often suggest that listeners use shuffle.

And that brings me on to descriptions. Name your list appropriately and give some thought to a short description about it. What inspired you to make the list? Why choose the songs you chose? Who are the songs about? Is there a particular relevance or theme and what is it? Sell your playlist to the listener.

But above all, remember that music is entirely and totally subjective. One man's meat is another man's poison. I've had some comments on mine about the inclusion of certain artists with others, but in the context of the theme, I was happy with my choice. For a brief period I was a bit angry at someone criticising the list, but soon realised that everyone has unique tastes and that was just the way he felt about my list. They can always make a list of their own ;o)

If you really like your playlist and want to share it, make sure you do via place like ShareMyPlaylists.com and see what people think. It can be quite a gratifying experience :o)