Blogger: SkullantacySmith

Introduction

Summer has briskly made its way towards most of us in the world. With our sunscreen on and glasses of fresh juice in hand, there is one thing missing — a banging playlist that gets us right into the summer mood. Fear not, as I have some ideas on how you can make the best of your summer listening.

1. Choose a mood

The songs you include in the playlist depend on the mood you want to create. You might want to make a heartbreak summer playlist, a summertime sadness playlist (see what I did there, Lana Del Rey fans), or a feel-good, upbeat playlist. Choose a mood and zero in on it.

2. Choosing genre(s)

Have you found which mood you want to go for? Then you can move on to the next step, which is selecting which genre or selection of genres you want to use. If you want to go for a festival vibe, you might choose one (for example, Glastonbury or Reading/Leeds) and research which musicians perform there. This would give you some insight into the types of genres you could use for it. On one I am creating at the moment, I am looking for a pure pop feel from the 2010s charts. This means I'm doing a lot of research into this era (some from my own knowledge since I grew up with that music).

SOME IDEAS: Festival vibes, summer pop hits/chart toppers, summer releases, roll your car window down indie, etc.

3. Choose your artists

Once you have picked a genre, you will have a huge range of artists to choose from. My only advice here is to not put anyone who is known to be, for lack of a better word, 'problematic' into your playlists. If you plan to share the playlist with friends or with a wider audience, you wouldn't want to turn them away from the playlist because of one artist, would you? Yes, there is always the skip button, but it's best not to leave these things to chance and turn away a potential audience for your playlist.

After you have chosen your genre(s) and chosen your artists, you can build the bulk of your playlist to what you want in it. If it is a small playlist, you can move the songs around to where you want them to fit. Whereas, if it is a big playlist, you can leave the order up to chance with the shuffle button. That is, unless you want to go through over 100 songs to put them in the exact order you want them in. Who am I to judge?

Quick question from the Gemme Team: Do you shuffle your playlists or obsess over the perfect order like some of us do?  Tell us in the comments!

4. Conjuring up a theme

This goes hand in hand with the genre. You may have noticed that some of the ideas given have a theme going alongside them. The bottom line is, if you have your genres and an idea in mind, you probably have an idea of a theme. Which brings us to the next step to creating the ideal summer playlist...

5. Coming up with a title

It's easier said than done, but since you have your genres and theme already in your head, you can come up with something snappy. For a festival-based playlist, you might have something like 'Summer Festival' or you might like the sound of 'roll your car window down indie' so much you decide to use it as the title.

However, if you're struggling even with all your fantastic ideas, write them down. Think about what summer reminds you of. Maybe your theme could inspire you, too — what do you think of when you envision your theme? Otherwise, you could use the songs to help you. For example, in the summer playlist I am creating, it is reminiscent of my summers in the 2010s and what I listened to chart-pop-wise back then. Therefore, I decided to call it 'Summer Reminiscing'. It's always funny where the mind wanders when creating titles for playlists.

6. Coming up with a description

This part is easy. All you must do is tell your audience about your playlist. What is the genre? Maybe mention the date it was created for good measure. But most of all, make it sound just as fun as the songs in your playlist.

7. What image should I use?

The obvious answer is to try and use copyright-free images. Also, try to make them match the theme of your playlist. You wouldn't have a picture of a beach if you were making a playlist fit for a summer road trip. You would probably have an image of open roads or a moving car. You can find plenty of copyright-free images on websites like Canva and Unsplash as places you can start.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have a summer playlist to blast out of your speakers proudly. All you have to do now is maintain it and make sure you don't have any unwanted songs accidentally added to it. This has been your guide on how to create the ideal summer playlist. Make sure to share your creations with us in the comments.

What songs instantly take you back to your summer memories growing up?