Play MPE Playlisting Blog

If you’re an artist, here’s a term you have certainly heard, definitely over the past year or so: Playlisting. If you’re not already familiar, playlisting is when a streaming platform or independent creator puts together a playlist that fits in to a certain genre or event.

For instance, you probably noticed many Halloween playlists on your favourite streaming services, some even curated by artists. Around the holidays, you can definitely scope playlists on streaming and artist websites that spreads holiday cheer. Others you may be aware of are themed playlists like, “Hits of the 90s,” “The Best of Grunge,” “Rap Caviar” and more. In many ways, Playlists are how people discover new music; a virtual radio station that a user can control with the type of music they want recommended to them.

Examples of websites where you can hear, or put together, playlists include Spotify, Soundcloud, MixCloud, Deezer, YouTube and – of course! – Play MPE. Play MPE uses their Full Caster Service (membership required) for artists to upload their music as tastemakers often access the player to find new songs for their playlists, making it a win/win for all involved.

We spoke to Tom Mullen, who has 20+ years as a music industry executive and is the founder of the Washed Up Emo podcast and the Anthology of Emo book series, which came to fruition because of his playlisting. “I like to curate a playlist with a fan in mind. Would I want to listen to this? Do these songs work well together? From there, I craft the songs on that fan experience. Personally, I spend hours listening to new music and continually returning to old albums and eras to refresh my memory. When the playlist is coming to form, you're so well informed it feels like a person did it, not an algorithm.” Tom is a huge fan of the benefits artists can reap with playlisting. “I think an artist can gain a lot by having people help with playlisting. It's a huge way to get in front of fans and people likely to listen to you. Equal to that is the work done by the artist to push the playlist, work their own music separately to continue to drive awareness on their endeavors. The work doesn't end when you get on a playlisting service, it's only just begun,” he advises. “As an artist, I would use playlists in creative ways that compliment your band and interests. If you're into surfing, make a surfing playlist or put together your music in themes or stories to help share on socials. Fans are waiting to hear your story be told in new ways and you can do that with interesting playlists and thinking past the discography or best of. Think more about your audience and cater to that.” A good example of an artist making use of their pandemic downtime to playlist is Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon. When his band’s touring plans were scuttered, he and a longtime friend began the WHOOOSH! Playlist, made up of 10 tracks which he and his co-host discuss throughout the typically one-hour program. Almost all of the music Simon picks is from new artists, as his goal is to introduce lesser known acts to the mainstream. While not everyone reading this has the broad audience Duran Duran do, he is still using his playlist to connect to newer artists. Listen to his playlist on radio.duranduran.com.

So why should an artist Playlist?
1) to promote your music
2) to promote other bands within the same genre, who will then do the same for you
3) to attract a wider audience by hoping your song end up on the same playlist as a bigger artist
4) to connect with an influencer or tastemaker that will post about your track or repurpose a playlist you’re on.

Any artist who wants to make sure their song gets heard by as many people as possible will invest time, and often money, in playlisting.