The holiday season is upon us, and with that comes parties. With the parties comes the need to for a killer playlist to get everyone mingling and on the dance floor. Here is a quick guide for building the best playlist that will get even your grandma to boogie. Even though this post is specific to holidays you can use the same steps for any event.
1. Decide on the platform to use.
Spotify or 8tracks are great for making playlists. Each one has its ups and downs. Spotify supports the artists, but some artists are missing (if you’re wanting to add Taylor Swift to your playlist you will not be able to “shake it off” if you are using Spotify). 8tracks gets its music from SoundCloud but be ready to sift through tons of material. My personal preference is Spotify.
2. Decide on a theme.
Holidays is the obvious choice here. You can choose to be more specific or general here. Playlists should be like a hallmark that reminds you of songs you were listening to at any specific moment in time and the theme should represent that.
3. Your playlist needs to have a clever title.
Like “Ho Ho Home for the Holidays” or “T(swift)isn’t the Season(songs of the season sans Taylor Swift)”.
4. Make it eclectic.
Just because you’re making a holiday playlist doesn’t mean you only have to use Christmas music. For one, there are hardly any original songs anymore. If you stick to Christmas songs it won’t be long before instead of a playlist you just remade Mariah Carey’s 12th Christmas album.
5. Dance.
Throw in plenty of dance tracks amidst the warm and fuzzy songs. No one will be getting down to Mannheim Steamroller (except Grandma, maybe.)
6.Don’t forget about your multicultural friends.
Not everyone celebrates Christmas. Make sure to include Matisyahu and Lady Smith Black Mambazo for your friends that celebrate Hanukkah and Kwanza.
7. Everyone loves the Sax Man aka Kenny G.
8. Don’t hide that playlist away on your phone, share it with friends.
Create an open playlist so your friends can add their favorite holiday party songs. At your holiday party, everyone will pick the playlist “we” all created. Except for Taylor Swift. She got left in the car because that’s the only place we keep CD players.
Happy Holidays and Happy Playlist making!
*Disclaimer: I actually like Taylor Swift and bought her album, but I am disappointed in her choice to stay off of Spotify.
Kenny G!