How To Make A Fantastic Playlist

Physical mixtapes might be dead but the art of crafting a perfect playlist for any occasion is still alive and kicking. Here are some helpful tips to start you on your journey to being a playlist hero.

1. Pick A Theme

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Like parties or the novels your English teacher used to drool over, the best mixtapes have a theme. Simple, complex, doesn't matter, just have a through line.

2. Know Your Audience

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Who is gonna be listening? Underemployed Twenty-somethings? Mid-thirties investment bankers. Grand-kids and grandparents? All four? Have something for everyone

3. Know The Event

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Car trip music is miles apart from graduation party music. Enya, while perfectly fitting the bill for dinner with the boss, is no way to bring in the new year at a rooftop bash.

4. Pick Way Too Many Songs

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Pick as many songs as it takes to make you start thinking about whether or not there is an infinite amount of songs that can actually exist in the world

5. Actually Listen To The Songs

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It may be tempting to try to make this playlist by memory. But that only leads to disaster. As in accidentally having to listen to the 5 minutes of silence at the end of your bootleg mp3 of "Wrecking Ball"

6. Understand This Playlist Isn't Just For You

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You may absolutely love 14 hour Phish Jams, bluegrass covers of Miley Cyrus songs, and mashups of the Indiana Jones theme song and Biggie lyrics. But that doesn't mean everyone does. To bring back the literary advice: Kill Your Darlings

7. The Skip Button Is Your Friend

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It may physically pain you to have to skip a favorite jam, but sometimes it's the only ethically correct thing to do. If the LCD Soundsystem isn't hitting as hard as you thought it would you'll have to give it the boot.

8. Don't Be Afraid To Let It Simmer

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Getting lit takes time. Not everyone can be Lil Jon/Andrew W.K. from the get-go. It can take a little bit for Josh from across the hall to get going. Save the Young Thug for later in the night.

9. Stuck? Try Remix (Ignition) and/or Yeah ft Lil Jon and Ludacris

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Guaranteed to rescue any situation from failing rager to falling apart baby shower.

10. Go Out And Listen To That Bad Boy