I’ve been using this strategy ever since I made my Spotify account back in 2020 (yes I know it took me that long to get onto Spotify) and I haven’t looked back.
I’ve been using iTunes and Apple Music for as long as I could remember so I had to do a lot of digging on my own time if I wanted to discover new artists or new genres of music. It was a lot of Instagram ads and songs I heard on YouTube and TikTok. But since making my Spotify account, I refuse to make my playlists on other streaming services.
This is the exact process I used to create my chill playlists so feel free to check them out if you want some more songs for your playlist. I also have an everything playlist that’s slowly climbing towards 2,000 songs with each new Release Radar so if the chill playlists aren’t enough for you, then I suggest checking this one out too.
Step 1: Choose your streaming service
For this, you’re going to want to choose between Apple Music and Spotify. I’m not sure about the algorithms on other platforms such as YouTube Music and Amazon Music, so for this, I highly suggest to pick between just these two.
They each have their own pros and cons – I’m not going to tell you to use one over the other, that’s for you to decide – so consider weighing those out before you choose.
I chose Spotify to create my playlists and then I transfer them over to Apple Music later on. My family has a family plan with Apple Music and it’s been my main streaming platform since I was basically born; I pay for my own Spotify account. I find the music quality is better on Apple Music but I’m in love with Spotify’s discoverability. So do with that information what you will.
Step 2: Choose the vibe
This is probably the most crucial part of this whole process and it’s the area that I have problems with.
If you’re like me, I recommend making a mood board or a list of things that remind you of this vibe/mood that you’re trying to create. For example, I have a playlist called California that’s meant to encompass the California sound – think Fleetwood Mac and Harry Styles’ first album.
But, since this sound was popular in the 70s, there aren’t many artists producing music with that sound today. So my California playlist has some California-like songs, but the rest don’t really fit the vibe since I’m limited.
This being said, make sure it’s a vibe/mood that’s ‘relevant’ otherwise you’ll run into problems while creating your playlist.
Step 3: Choose 3 songs that match this vibe
Alright so I might’ve lied about step two being the most crucial part of this process… it’s actually step three. These songs are going to be the foundation on which your playlist will stand; the ones that will tell the algorithm what vibe/mood you’re going for.
Let’s say I wanted to create a playlist for easy listening. I would choose a Jack Johnson song, a John Mayer song and then a wild card for the third – maybe a second Jack Johnson song or a different easy listening song that I already know and love.
Step 4: Add your songs
This part is kinda up to you as to how you want to go about it. I choose to only add songs through Spotify’s recommended tab as I find that it’s easier and more efficient – this way I don’t have to go looking elsewhere for songs.
Apple Music recently added this feature, however, I’m biased towards Spotify’s recommended as it’s been around for longer. To me that means it’s more refined and more effective, so I’m able to find more songs that match the vibe/mood faster compared to using Apple Music’s recommended.
Step 5: Listen
I was debating on even adding this as a step since the process technically ends at step four, but I thought it would be funny to add something like this.
But that’s it. You now have a banger playlist perfectly catered towards whatever vibe/mood you were going for.
If this seems like too much work for you, don’t worry – it doesn’t have to be time consuming if you don’t want it to be. I listen to the first 30 seconds of a song (usually the first chorus has played by this time, and if not then I listen to just after the first chorus) to get a feel for the overall vibe/mood. If this section manages to grab my attention while also fitting the mood, then I add that song. If not, then I move onto the next one. Try to make the process as simple for yourself as possible, otherwise you’re going to dread making another.
I choose to make my playlists on Spotify and then use a third party service to automatically transfer my playlists from Spotify to Apple Music so that I’m not sitting there adding each song individually. I find I have better luck finding a wider variety of indie artists on Spotify compared to Apple Music who tends to suggest more main stream artists.
Let me know if you’d like a post discussing my favourite songs across all my chill playlists. I will gladly take any excuse to talk about my favourite songs.
julzy 
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