The Art of the Playlist
By Katalina Wernli
Graphic by Anabel Russo
A playlist starts with inspiration.
It could be a memory or a feeling. Maybe even a person.
Whatever it is you want to call it, playlists are given life the moment an idea sparks so quickly that your hands start to frantically reach for your phone or computer so you can try to turn your idea into your own personal soundtrack.
Words are hard to find and even harder to say, but when you hear a song where someone else has already written them down for you more eloquently than you could have ever imagined, the first beats of the playlist begin.
Carefully curated and emotionally selected, the thought process of adding songs to a playlist is often a long one depending on what you're trying to say. Everyone has their own process. Some jumble songs together, others color code songs on the way they feel. Inspiration can come from anywhere and plays a hand in what mood is trying to be set or what words need to be said but without actually saying them.
Think about all the playlists you've ever made? What do they say about you? What do they say about where you've been and where you are now?
Music is so much a part of our lives that we tend to take for granted the power it holds in connection to us. And it's always there when we need it the most. The right playlist can make us feel comforted as we cry over a boy that doesn't matter, but we still miss anyway. It's there to be blasted through the speakers of our cars when we drive throughout our neighborhoods with the windows down as we try to feel like the main character in our own story. A good playlist has the power to make or break a party that we’ve been dying to go to where we can dance away all the stress and worries we get from our day-to-day lives.
No matter what we’re feeling or what we’re doing, there’s always a playlist lying around that can match it. Playlists are the compilations of ourselves that we make to tell the story of how we feel or want to feel in a moment in time.
They're more than just intimate; they’re accessible. Easily shareable once complete and intensely sentimental once listened to, playlists have become a go-to way of telling someone how you feel or creating the right kind of vibe for a moment in time.
Streaming platforms, like Spotify and Apple Music, have become the source of so many people’s access to music and also give users the ability to become more personal with their playlists. As long as you have an account, you can take part in the instantaneous creations of music on your own terms. Editing cover art, easily rearranging songs, writing playlist descriptions, and coming up with unique playlist titles all give curatorial power to you: the creator.
And because of streaming platforms, playlists don’t just sit there for your own pleasure anymore. They’re shared, liked, and followed by others that enjoy or feel connected to the playlist you made. Public and personal start to become intertwined, letting playlists have the potential to create bonds between you and friends or total strangers that feel connected to something that you made.
You think your heartbreak, sorrows, happiness, loneliness, or whatever perfectly human emotion you feel is something you carry alone. But then you listen. The musician sings, and the lyrics hit the very core of your being, and you realize you were never alone. Someone felt the exact same way you did, and so you make a playlist. Scrambling to find other songs that emanate the same feeling you’re trying to capture, and then when you’re finally finished, you press play and take it all in.
