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Intro
You may not know this, but I have a particularly strong special interest in music. (I know, who could have guessed.) I’ve loved music since I was very little – Mom says I used to sing along to commercials when I was two. I grew up in a household full of music and singing, and my mom played the piano and flute frequently when I was a kid. Dad was always playing his music in the car, a collection of 80s music, hair metal, and classic dad rock of the 2000s (think Evanescence, Nickelback, 3 Doors Down, and Billy Joel), and he passed his obsession for collecting CDs down to me. I got my very first iPod for Christmas in sixth grade, and I never looked back.
I didn’t officially switch to Spotify Premium until 2018. I used it sporadically a few years before that, mainly to sample tracks I wanted to buy on iTunes and use its vast collection of film scores and instrumental tracks for novel-writing inspiration. And while I love the freedom that Spotify gives you, the ability to listen to infinite music in the streaming age, I do still miss the days where I would budget my $6 for the week on a few songs. There was something sacred about spending your meager allowance on four tracks and carefully curating which ones they would be.
When I was in middle school, I discovered the wonderful world of playlists. My dad used to make playlists on CDs before he had an MP3 player and curate his own mixes that we played in the car over and over. Ever since then, I always loved the idea of a mix CD. I made mixes for my friends for their birthdays, mixes for my mom on Mother’s Day, mixes for me to have on hand should our computer crash. But then I discovered fanmixes, particularly in relation to Twilight, (I know, I’m a baby Millenial, let me live) and I was never the same after that. I made playlists for my favorite vampire books and then I started to explore what other lists I could come up with. By the time I got to high school and was learning to drive, I would carefully curate mixes on a monthly basis. My best friend and I would give each other hand-crafted CDs with essays attached on why we chose the songs in the order we did. We studied playlists and mixes and music like we were going to be tested, and it shaped the way I listen to music to this day.
I’ve been collecting music since approximately 2006, and now my Spotify library holds 11,897 songs in it. I have about 475 playlists. Annually, I listen to about 1,400 artists. My music library is my baby.
People always love to say that they listen to a “little bit of everything,” but that is quite literally what my library looks like. I try not to discriminate, and often I find myself falling in love with music I hated on the first few listens. It’s hard to tell people my favorite artist is Taylor Swift because it gives an impression that doesn’t fully demonstrate my range as a listener. Sure, I grew up on Fearless and 1989 but what about My Chemical Romance or Keith Urban or twenty one pilots or 100 Gecs or Elton John or T-Pain or The Killers or Sam Hunt or Fall Out Boy or Bon Iver or Foo Fighters or…
Because they have yet to develop a music streaming platform that fully encapsulates everything I want, I make due with my folders and collections, and try to keep things organized as best I can. I have a lot of music (like, an obscene amount, it’s getting ridiculous), so I’ve had to figure out a system to keep track of all my stuff. I catalogue a lot of shit because I love looking back on who I was at any given time based on a playlist or a mix of songs. I think playlists say a lot about a person (cue that scene from Begin Again) and they’re my favorite way to explore the boundaries of music and sound.
This is a masterlist of my favorite playlists and catalogues, in part so I can hold onto this for future reference, but also because I know it can be overwhelming when you click on somebody’s profile and see 100 playlists listed in a row. (They should let me redesign Spotify, I think I could solve everybody’s problems including world peace.) I think I’m pretty damn great at making playlists, so if you’re trying to find new music or want an easy mix to slip into, this is the place to be. (And if you need a particular mix, I am always looking for suggestions and I love making custom playlists for people!)
If you’re looking for albums specifically, I have a post all about the 100 albums that have influenced me thus far.
Table of Contents
*Playlists in italics are personal favorites
My Spotify profile
My last.fm profile
💯 BEST OF - My top ten favorite playlists
💫 ANNUALS - What I was listening to during any given year
🌱 SEASONAL - Mixes for feelings that align with the year’s seasons
📚 FANMIXES - Playlists inspired by specific media
❤️🔥 VIBES - Mixes for general feelings or places
📋 FAVORITES - Assorted rankings and collections of my favorites
💿 PERSONAL - Playlists that are specific to me and my personal experiences
🫶🏻 VARIOUS - I don’t really know where these fit but they’re fun I promise
best of
some of my favorite playlists
annuals
what i was listening to during any given year
📅 YEARLY PLAYLISTS
Every year I compile a running list of the songs I’m listening to. There are repeats, oldies, new releases, artists I just discovered recently, etc. Most of these are not curated so they’re very long and songs were added chronologically as the year progressed starting in 2018.
💗 FAVORITE RELEASES BY YEAR (20s)
Starting in 2020 I’ve been keeping track of the annual new releases and compiling my favorites into playlists. These are songs that were dropped during each corresponding year that I found and listened to and loved in that year.
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seasonal
mixes for feelings that align with the year’s seasons
🌼 SPRING
Flowers, soft yellow light dancing across the floor, the smell of fresh grass, all shades of green sprouting up overnight, longer days, a bright sunrise, daydreaming about summer coming, the feeling of hope
🏝️ SUMMER
Beaches, driving with the windows down, watching the sun set, laughing with your friends, ice cream, swimsuits and chlorine, ice cold drinks, sunglasses, sweating through your clothes, late nights, bright colors, the feeling of being forever young
🍂 AUTUMN
Falling leaves, cool temps, shorter days, changing colors, foggy mornings, hot drinks, boots and hats and jackets, sweater weather, pulling out your cardigan, spooky movies, the ominous darkness, a feeling of loss
❄️ WINTER
Snowflakes falling, foggy windows, the quiet of a snowy night, soup on the stove, calling someone in the evening, dark days, puffy coats, wondering where the sun has gone, the bustle of the holiday season, a feeling of nostalgia
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fanmixes
carefully curated playlists that are inspired by media
📖 BOOKS
📺 OTHER
Loki + Mobius from Loki on Disney+
Ed Teach + Stede Bonnet from Our Flag Means Death on HBO
Guillermo + Nandor from What We Do in the Shadows on FX
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vibes
mixes for feelings and places
🤩 UPBEAT
songs that make me feel so insanely unhinged that i black out when i listen to them
a collection of my favorite pop/electronic/synth songs
all the songs i would play at my wedding reception if i was gonna get married
songs that sound like drinking a blue icee
🎸 ROCK
playlist of songs that make me think of driving in my dad’s jeep
a collection of the best dad rock songs (think 80s-2000s)
a mix for emo kids of the 2000s
rock covers of taylor swift songs
some of my favorite fem rockers and artists
songs that have that wonderful fuzzy sound that comes from a good bass
🌃 NIGHT
songs for when you can’t fall asleep
songs that sound like the tunnel scene in perks of being a wallflower
pop music for night drives
taylor swift songs that sound best in the car driving at night
a collection of songs that are best listened to at night
what i wanted midnights (the album) to sound like
songs that sound like the sonic drive-thru
summer nights but you’re making new friends and nothing makes sense and you feel like your 16 in a movie
songs for when you go to the beach at night
☀️ SUNNY
songs that just sound like the color yellow
songs that just sound like the color yellow part ii
my favorite songs to put on when driving to work in the morning sun
a collection of some of my favorite country songs, most of which sound great in the spring and summer sunshine
💡 NOSTALGIA
songs from the 2010-2015 tumblr era
90s and 2000s
a mix of 2000s-2020s that sound like an early 00s coming of age movie soundtrack
what i think the barbie soundtrack should have been
songs about growing up
it always leads to you and my hometown
inspired by “tis the damn season” but in a “i miss my hometown” kind of way
songs about friends
a collection of songs that feel like missing a certain moment in time
🤒 I FEEL BAD
songs to listen to when you want to stop feeling or you’re feeling too much (aka my depression playlist)
quiet songs to listen to when you need to drive but you want background noise
more quiet songs to zone out to
jesus christ, i’m so blue all the time
another depression playlist
songs about being sad that things have to end
a grief playlist
a playlist for the people who relate to “anti-hero” and “antichrist”
songs to remind you that it will be okay in the end and that life is worth living
💤 CALM
a playlist for when you need to calm down
a playlist that feels like a warm hug after a bad day
some relaxing tunes
falling in love at a coffeeshop
my family-friendly mix for the coffeeshop i’ll never open
a playlist to be played during a cocktail hour somewhere
songs that are kind of folky acoustic vibes
memories that don’t belong to me
a collection inspired by “you look like a movie, you sound like a song,” oldies and acoustic and folk
the house with the green couch
a mix that sounds like my friends’ old apartment in the city
songs that sound great in headphones when you’re walking around a big city
🌲 NATURE
songs that sound good when you’re driving in the mountains
songs for a camping trip that sound good in nature
songs that sound like the ocean
🎬 CINEMATIC
songs to inspired writing that feel cinematic
a collection of songs inspired by dark academia / gothic vibes
a playlist of all my favorite love songs
🚗 DRIVING
songs for driving when it’s cold out and you need a sweatshirt
songs that sound great in cars when you’re driving on a roadtrip
a driving mix from 2021
a mix based off the sounds of “handle me” by muna
🤬 BREAKUP
songs for when you’re mad and you just wanna stay bitter
wish you were a fuckin better man
a playlist for that guy who broke your heart after you missed all the red flags
all the taylor swift songs to get you through any kind of break-up
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favorites
assorted rankings and collections of my favorites
🎤 ARTISTS
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personal
playlists that are specific to me and my personal experiences
a playlist to demonstrate my own personal brand/taste/persona
a playlist of the songs that built me as a person
a list of the songs that most frequently run through my brain, or the songs that i default to singing at any given time
all the songs that could be seen as red flags, or my favorite songs that are cringe
the playlist that corresponds with my 100 influential albums post
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various
i don’t really know where these fit but they’re fun i promise
a list of songs that name specific ages
all the songs that taylor wrote on her arm during the speak now world tour in 2011
who’s taylor swift anyway? ew.
a playlist for people who say they hate taylor swift
a collection of artists that are apart of the taylor swift musical universe
a list of songs jack antonoff as worked on
an introduction to stefani germanotta.
a playlist to introduce you to lady gaga’s music
a playlist to introduce you to beyoncé’s music
songs about the united states / politics
songs for the asexual experience
songs that are by or for queer people
my favorite songs to rap that are mostly by white people
songs about or pertaining to change or the feeling of “i wanna get better”
Jenna... please... when it comes to your substack, you have so many GOOD IDEAS that I’m just tempted to... steal them all...
this is amazing and so well put together!!!! also i see u have sad girl indie folk vibes so may i suggest ………. My own music……. ❤️🩹 HAHAHAHA