Feb 13

Feb 13 Hi! Here’s FIVE Rules FOR Making a “Good” Playlist

** I first posted this in the Summer of '22, but I often re-bump buried blog posts back up to the top of HI54.BLOG's 'updated-every-weekday' homepage, maybe make a few tweaks/edits I didn't have time for before, if I have time for it this time around, because who can afford an editor — BUT, also… reduce, reuse, recycle, innit? **

I received a dm on Instagram from a Swedish journalist student writing an article inspired by the “do’s an don’ts of making a mixtape” in High Fidelity — a film & book & tv show that I have enjoyed more than a few times and still reference more than a few times (even on this very site) —AND, in true Rob fashion, I immediately started overthinking the interview topic in a familiar fashion…

But, in my defence, this is a topic that I have both over-thought plenty during my years of making Mix CD playlists as a “music blog” AND it’s a topic that I have a lot of under-examined subconscious feelings about what/why/how. So the thought of having to try and verbalize my own “do’s and don’ts of making a m̶i̶x̶t̶a̶p̶e̶ playlist” in an interview setting just made me think of all the tangents I’d be able to better land if flying in a written blahg format — AND SO — here we are: a blog post about my personal Do’s & Don’ts for making a “good” playlist.

Note: these playlist “rules” apply to playlists that you share with others or you make with the intention of others listening (because there’s no rules for playlists you make for your own use), BUT, also, it’s important to remember that the only real rule is that you should feel like the songs you have selected for your playlist + the order those songs have been intentionally placed communicates/accomplishes whatever it is that you were trying to communicate/accomplish (while, at the same time, your playlist should also be able to just be a collection of “good” music for everyone/anyone who connects in whatever ways they may, regardless of whether anybody picks up on all the subtle connections you noticed when putting things together). Everybody hears different things, so make sure you remember to listen to yourself.

And, on that note:

The HI54 “Good” PLAYLIST RULES

#1 - Set your playlist’s rules & intent (and stick to it). You need to know why you are making the playlist, and for who/m, and whether there will be any musical filters applied to which tracks/artists can be considered for the playlist. For example, with ‘pretend, for real’ diy radio station MOUN.TOWN/FM I mess about with, the majority of the playlists have a rule of being ‘95 tracks from 95 different artists’, and then each playlist will have it’s own theme (like artists from British Columbia, or When I Said I Like “Country” Music, or etc), and I guess the “who/m”for MOUN.TOWN/FM is anybody who might enjoy similar headphone exploration/discovery as me (but when I’m making a playlist for a certain person or situation, like a friend or something, I narrow down my taste range even further to what I think overlaps best with the intended audience).

By having playlist parameters set, you make it easier on yourself when narrowing down which songs are the best fit for the playlist you are intending to make + you make it easier for your playlist to feel like it has a beginning & an end + a purpose for existing. I like putting a song cap on a playlist so that it’s clear that this is just an ‘X-amount of tracks’ personal taste sample, of which I will likely tweak again, and it’s not meant to be a “how could you not include…?!” inclusive & final list. On a related note: make ‘Faves of __’ not ‘Best of __’ playlists, because nothing is “best” in music (but everybody is allowed to have favourites, and those are allowed to change by the day/month/year).

#2 - Never put an artist in a playlist more than once (unless there are playlist specific reasons that are obvious — like a tragically hits playlist or an ongoing archive playlist or etc). There is just way too much good music out there getting made by way too many good people for anybody to be going back to the same artist well over and over again, just to pad out playlists with broad themes like ‘Indie Folk Mornings’ or “Road Trip’ or ‘Any Theme That Isn’t A Specific Artist/Label Retrospective’ that MANY different artists/tracks could be featured in instead of repeat artist/album entries. Especially when we’re working with music libraries that contain basically EVERY song by EVERY artist EVER (that you don’t even have to own to listen to or share with others) — it just comes off as a bit lazy and half-arsed to be making playlists for other people that repeat the same artists (often artists we all already know). If there’s no personal musical exploration or discovery, for the playlist maker and/or the playlist listener, you might as well just leave things to the Al Gore Rhythms (and a lot of listeners do).

I even take this rule to the extreme sometimes with my yearly End Of Year bit that sees me putting together insane sounding 20X21=420 TUNES FROM FROM 2021 FROM 420 DIFFERENT ARTISTS playlists (ps - with my EOY playlists I have a rule that an artist can be featured more than once if collaborating/releasing multiple projects, but, in general, I’m a ‘one track from one artist’ playlist truther). But that’s because musical discovery/exploration, for me and whoever listens, that’s kind of the main point of even doing playlists for other people, right? And if you’re starting to repeat artists because you can’t really think of any other songs/artists that add to the playlist’s overall vibe/intent, that’s ok, but that’s also a sign that your playlist doesn’t need to be any longer (and a short & tight playlist, like an old fashioned mix tape/cd length, that’s plenty long enough for expecting anyone else to take the time to listen).

#3 - Put the playlist together one track at a time, from start to finish. This is the only way to make a truly “good” playlist with the “right” song selection guaranteed throughout. This is how you hold up your end of the deal as the playlist creator. Even though you know that a majority of people will just put the playlist on shuffle, and that’s fine, but by making sure that the first track leads into the second track leads into the third track into etc all the way to the last track when putting things together, that’s how you also guarantee that even when listened to in a different song order, all the tracks still feel like they belong together… because that’s what happens when you put a playlist together in a way that flows from start-to-finish like a proper old skool mix tape. Which makes for good re-playability.

But the only way to do that is to make sure you listen to hear if a song feels “right” following the song before/after, and, if not, even if you end up having to not include a song you really like because it just doesn’t gel with the other tracks, that’s a cut you need to be able to hear that you need to make, BECAUSE, as the old saying goes, “if a song doesn’t fit, you must acquit… even if it’s too legit to quit!”, AND, deep down, I think we all know that old saying speaks an undeniable truth.

#4 - Every song selection has to sound like the right song selection to YOU. What is considered the “right” song selection is subjective and different for everyone, so don’t bother trying to guess what you think other people will think is the “right” song selection. Trust your ear guts. Make “right” song selections that serve the intent of the playlist & are inspired by the other tracks in the playlist and (maybe/hopefully) expand someone else’s musical experience in the process (maybe/hopefully including your own when putting things together and digging deeper for just the “right” sounding song/s).

Because you can base your playlist decisions on what your ears like + what you think someone else’s ears would also like (ie. that is kinda the point of making a playlist for ears other than your own), but you never want to go down the road of making song selections that you’re guessing others will like (or know that others already like or think others will think is “cool” or “on trend”), especially if it goes against what your own ears are telling you about how they feel about a track’s fit with the other tracks in the playlist. At the end of the day, you might be the only one actually listening to these playlists you spent all this time on, so make sure that it’s also an engaging playlist for yourself to come back & listen to too (*Barenaked Ladies voice*: I just made you say “tutu”).

#5 - The experience of making a playlist is a part of the process, and you should enjoy it / get something out of it too. Once, when I was high, I had the thought that the process of putting together a playlist (or mixtape or mix cd) is a bit like painting a picture, EXCEPT, instead of paint, you use other people’s songs as the paint.

As I said, I was high.

But, alas, I am high once again… so let’s continue the analogy!

So, as I was saying… some people will look at your painting (which, again, is your playlist) and they will say, “it’s just a painting of a boat playlist on the water, I don’t get it.” — and that’s fine; that just means it’s not for them. BUT, those kind of people aren’t the only kind of people there are, and the ones who let art hit them a little further below the surface, they might see/hear that even though what you put together kinda is ‘just a painting of a boat playlist on the water’, there’s also a lot more going on to connect to and think about and listen closer/again & discover more — and it’s with those people that your little painting/playlist gets to become a piece of art to someone other than yourself.

And let us not forget the fact that the person painting the boat playlist on the water also gets something to connect to & think about out of the experience of painting boat playlists on the water and sharing them with others who appreciate paintings of boat playlists on the water… and that’s not nothing. It’s definitely more rewarding than binging another fine-enough Netflix series for 8+ hours. I guess what I am saying is: it’s ok to enjoy making playlists and putting as much thought and time and consideration into them as a painter might spend if they were trying to paint their best boat-on-the-water painting for others to enjoy (and it doesn’t even matter if anyone else gets the same thing you got out of making the playlist, because you get to get what you get out of it, regardless of anything extra you might get if someone else gets something out of your playlists too… ya get me?).

In other words, just be your own little Bob Ross of playlist making.

Sure, there are further caveats that could be made for each of the above rules (especially when talking about running playlists as a “music blog” and all the extra stuff that comes with that kind of ongoing upkeep), but the main thing with making any kind of “good” playlist is that you just need to find the balance between over-thinking things too much and not over-thinking things enough. After all, you’re sharing other people’s highly personal art with other people (which can potentially feel highly personal) — so there’s plenty of opportunity to be a weirdo and make things about yourself, even if just in your own head (for example, thinking about how you think other people may or may not react to lyrics that were literally not written about whatever ‘secret’ interpretations your brain might suggest people might think you mean by choosing to include such a track). At the same time, other people can also be a weirdo about things you didn’t even consider about your playlist… so just try not to over/under consider all that stuff (but also: everyone is a weirdo).

Instead, focus on letting whether you feel that it’s a “good” song that fits “right” with the overall playlist be your final decision maker, not how you think someone might react to lyrics they might not even pick-up on (which is fine because YOU LITERALLY DID NOT WRITE ANY OF THE LYRICS). Even if you have ‘secret’ intentions with your playlists (ie. for all your crushes & enemies and what not), if you just make sure you’re focusing on only sharing music that you genuinely connect with AND music that serves the intent of the playlist — that’s the real secret sauce to ending up with a subjectively “good” finished audio painting every time (aka: a subjectively “good” curated playlist).

Because, like with all ‘finished paintings’, whether other people connect in the ways that you felt others might connect when putting it all together, you can’t really predict or control how others will connect, because that’s just not how all this creating & communicating stuff works (no matter what format of “art” you dabble in).

So, just remember, when it comes to making a playlist…

And then just treat the process like you’re actually attempting to make “art”, with other people’s art — because that is what you’re doing (and even if no one else notices/appreciates it, the “art” still happened, at least in your headphones, and that still counts).

And, if all else fails… try to get a Beta Band track in there :)

(which is something I literally just did in a 90s playlist that I made for local cocktail lounge right before getting HIGH FIDELITY’d myself — I guess what goes around comes around, eh :)