How to compile the soundtrack to your life
If your life were a movie, you would need the perfect playlist.
If you have ever wondered what makes the perfect playlist, then you’ve found yourself in the right place. And no, I am not here to push all my music taste onto you because I do not claim to know what your perfect songs to comprise your perfect playlist would be. What I do know that the perfect playlist requires three things: genre, knowing your audience, and the art of the queue.
We are creatures of genre, and we all have a few genres at the centre of our hearts. Like all the books we read and all the serialized TV shows we watch, it comes down to how that genre speaks to us. We consume the genres we relate to most based on the feelings they conjure within us and the release we feel after we have learned something about ourselves. We search for the same thing when we listen to music, we want to provoke an emotion we can relate to. Moreover, certain genres of music are strongly associated with specific emotions in us. For example, no one cries after listening to EDM or laughs after listening to a heart-wrenching ballad. That would not make sense. If you are going to compile playlists that fit the soundtrack of your life, you need to discover what genres speak to you.
Have you ever noticed how movie editors always seem to pick the right song to play at the right time to stir up our emotions even more? You can do the same. Simply play the music that fits your mood. Listening to something happy does not make sense if you are feeling down. Instead, you should play the angriest and saddest songs you know and expel those feelings you’re keeping in a cage. You must pick the right moment.
I would not oppose an amalgamation of genres in one playlist for those days when you do not know what you are feeling. If that is the case for you, this step is essential to learn how to consume your playlist most effectively. Once you have selected your genre and embraced your mood, you can master the art of the queue. Sometimes, our emotions are so distinct to us in a moment that shuffling a three-hour playlist does not work for you. Perhaps one song rides our emotion through to the end, and then we lose it by the next song. You do not want this. Instead, you want to keep that feeling going, but not all your songs will do that for you. Knowing which songs to play next will only make the music consumption more powerful. This is the same reason why we binge serialized TV series. We want the experience to continue. However, a good playlist is not short, and a long playlist is not concise enough to be effective on shuffle.
Bonus tip: The last song you play in your jam session is the most important because it will likely be stuck in your head for the next few hours.
