How To Use Playlists To Discover New Music You’ll Love

byKWilkins3

41 followers

3 months ago

Playlists are pretty much magic wands for your music library. One click and suddenly you’ve got fresh tunes, hidden gems, or that perfect track you didn’t know you needed.

Algorithmic playlists are like that friend who knows your taste a little too well. Spotify’s “Discover Weekly” or Apple’s “New Music Mix” don’t just guess—they snoop on what you play, what you skip, and probably what you sing in the shower. Before you know it, they’re sliding in songs that feel both familiar and just risky enough to keep things interesting.

Curated playlists are where the grown-ups step in. Actual humans with big record collections and probably a few too many tote bags decide what you should hear. These lists are thoughtful, sometimes deep, and can expose you to stuff you’d never stumble on by yourself. It’s like borrowing your cool older cousin’s mixtape—if your cousin worked at a record label.

Then there are community playlists—the wild west of music sharing. These are made by people like us, just tossing tracks together because they feel right. Sometimes you find pure gold, sometimes it’s more like that friend who insists you have to hear their band. But when you strike gold, you really strike it.

The trick? Don’t marry just one type. Let the algorithms stalk you a little, trust the curators to keep you classy, and dive into community lists for surprises. That way your ears stay happy, your playlists stay fresh, and you won’t get caught looping the same three songs until the end of time.