Try 90’s R&B, early 2000’s pop music, 70’s psychedelic rock, or even 80’s jam bands.

Dubstep and EDM songs are great ones for working out.

Classical music is also great for relaxation and studying since it doesn’t have any distracting lyrics.

Different parties might need different soundtracks. A kid’s birthday party, for example, will have different music than a house show in your neighborhood.

This is a great way to figure out a name for your playlist as well, since you can just title it after your mood. Angry playlists might have a lot of heavy metal, content playlists might play smooth jazz, and sad playlists might have classical or slow songs.

Internet radio stations like Pandora allow you to make your own radio station, but they don’t let you compile individual songs into a playlist.

Alternatively, maybe the order of the songs is predetermined (as in a countdown playlist) or maybe you’re just not interested in a carefully selected order for the songs. Consider randomizing the order by hitting shuffle, or by tossing the songs in alphabetically for easy access. This tends to be easier for very long playlists.

Alternatively, a party playlist should probably only go up, so start with a banger and progressively get rowdier. Likewise, a go-to-sleep playlist should stay relatively sedate. Let it fade off into white noise or silence at the ending.

Depending on the playlist theme, this could be a really fast rap song, a loud EDM song, an orchestral classical piece, or anything in between.

Avoid aural schizophrenia. It’s nice to have some variety, but going straight from Slayer to Simon and Garfunkel will sound strange. It’s your playlist, but try to make the order relatively smooth. Slayer to Led Zeppelin’s “Since I’ve Been Loving You” to Simon and Garfunkel? That’s more like it.

Sticking to this many songs gives you enough time to convey the theme of your playlist without dragging it out too long.

If you’re making a playlist for kids, make sure you listen to the lyrics of every song you add to avoid curse words.

Having too many songs by the same artist can feel too much like just listening to an album.

For example, you could try “100 Most Uplifting Songs Ever. ” Or, “The World’s Most Perfect Pop Songs. ”

Try listening to the radio, other playlists, and your friends’ recommendations.

Updating your playlist too often can confuse your listeners, while leaving it for too long can make it feel stale.

You might decide that some songs fit better elsewhere, in which case you can make a brand new playlist instead.

You can make collaborative playlists on Spotify and Apple Music.