I think that if you enjoy listening to music on a regular basis, there is a good chance that you like putting together playlists.
The idea of putting together a playlist goes back to when our parents were making mixtapes to give to their friends and significant others, and I think that it is pretty cool that basically the same thing still happens today.
So that’s what I’m going to talk about today: my affinity for a good playlist.
To me, there is just something that is so satisfying about listening to a bunch of music and finding the best songs to put together.
Back when I first got my Spotify account and I found out how many songs I had at my fingertips, I started making playlists like a madman.
I can remember being in high school and being really bored at night and spending hours at night finding not only the perfect songs to go into the mix, but also the perfect order to put them in.
The worst part was that all that effort essentially went to waste as every time I sent a playlist to one of my friends, they inevitably played it with shuffle mode turned on.
When I make a playlist now, I kind of just anticipate this fact and put songs in the playlist in the order that I find them.
It just saves me a lot of work up front, and a lot of heartache on the back end when no one appreciates my efforts.
Every now and then, I still like to put together a classic mix for just myself.
There’s something about the meticulous nature of making sure that the ending of one song leads into the beginning of the next one in a way that relaxes me.
I’ve heard of a book called “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,” but if I was writing a book, it would most definitely be “Zen and the Art of Crafting a Perfect Playlist.”
While I’m on the topic of being relaxed by creating a playlist, I do have to talk about the downsides that I have found.
First off, if I am feeling stressed out by the amount of work that I have, I will normally either make a new playlist or rearrange one that I already have in the works.
This is a bad thing for multiple reasons, but all I can say is that when you strive for the kind of playlist perfection that I do, making the decision to mess around with the right song order can take a big chunk out of your day.
Just this morning, instead of writing this column, I spent a good hour and a half making a new playlist. Whoops.
Secondly, this obsession has kind of ruined me for listening to other people’s playlists. I essentially have to listen to them on shuffle, because if I don’t I just know that I’m going to subconsciously judge their song order.
Considering that just about no one but me cares about song order, this is an issue that I run into a good majority of the time.
Back to the positives, as a movie buff and a music lover, I have a special appreciation for movie soundtracks.
I mean, when you think about it, if a movie soundtrack has a bunch of songs on it that existed beforehand, its essentially just a professionally put together playlist.
The gold standard for these types of soundtracks are the ones that came out for the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies.
With a great blend of well-known classic songs and deep cuts, the soundtracks for the “Guardians” movies have given me a lot of inspiration over the years.
I think the only way to end this properly is to plug my list of public playlists on Spotify, so if you want to listen to any of my playlists, just search “Ben Haylett” on Spotify.
BENJAMIN HAYLETT
