How to Create the Perfect Playlist For Your Next Event

Before every event it is important to consider what the music will express throughout the night. If you are booking live music or DJ this is not the article for you, but if you are coordinating the music yourself, you will want to think about what the vibe of your event will mean for the tunes.

For almost every event I've thrown myself I have not only created my own playlist, but I also chose a couple additional playlists created by others to play once we had gotten through mine.

From Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas to a birthday, the music has a crucial impact on the mood and energy of the event.

For my last Halloween party I created a playlist with a mix of the classics as well as songs that could be listened to any time of the year but were slightly dark sounding or talked about things "beyond our world" if you will.

With tunes like Superstition by Stevie Wonder and Scary Monsters by David Bowie, you can get people dancing in their costumes.

For Friendsgiving I chose songs that were laid back and great for socializing over great food. Examples of these songs are:

• Volare - Dean Martin

• Forever My Friend - Ray LaMontagne

• Homeward Bound - Simon & Garfunkel

A good step to begin creating your playlist is searching your theme in Spotify or 8tracks to see if you can get some ideas from. I normally find about 4-5 playlists and then pick and choose from those. This can also jog your memory of songs you think could fit in well.

A good playlist for a party will have at least 40 songs, but don't worry - once you get going it'll happen a lot faster than you'd think.

You can also go along with this scheme, but it is by no means necessary for a playlist:

• 4-5 songs that build up but aren't too fast

• 8-10 songs that are dancey and upbeat

• 3-4 songs that are laid back but not too slow or quiet that people will get bored

• 8-10 songs that are upbeat and possibly dancable but could also just keep people talking and having a great time

and so forth.

You don't want to start with your favorites because people won't be warmed up to the mood and theme of the party, you want to get them comfortable so they'll be more inclined to respond to the mood you hope to set.

Check out this post for a Halloween playlist for this years party!