Are Playlists this Generation’s Love Letters? 

Rinah Milter  

Music Journalist  

Streaming services are the new mixtapes. With Spotify and Apple Music, we can connect instantly with one another through our favorite songs. This has been a thing for so long – if you’ve seen “High Fidelity” you know exactly what I’m talking about. In my opinion, curating playlists for specific moods or people is a way of saying “I was thinking about you” in the most profound way possible. Love letters? Overhyped. Because with music you can hear exactly what that person is feeling and what they want to tell you, unsaid. Words don’t mean much to what you can feel.  

For most of us, music is part of our daily lives, and it has been for years now. Mixtapes and CDs took the spot before we moved into the digital age. They’re mentioned all throughout pop culture – mixtapes were given as presents on birthdays and special occasions, burning CDs the same. You could put them into your radios at home, or in your car. You could even say a message to the person you’re giving it to, especially with mixtapes. It’s sweet how we as humans use music as a form of emotional expression.  

There are multiple steps for creating the perfect playlist, because curating a perfect playlist is a form of art. The steps are intentionality, personalization, and timelessness. When I’m making my monthly playlists on Spotify, I start by thinking what I want the playlist to feel like, and what I want it to encapsulate. Usually, all my playlists have a specific purpose – like a seasonal playlist, a mood, or even a person.  

I have a hot take though, and it might leave the pretentious music snobs shocked: I like to add all different genres into a playlist because then it’s boring. My playlists are all over the place, but they have a flow to them, and for me, that usually means they’re thematically connected.  

Personalization comes next. Not only for the person you are making it for, but also to make sure that your personality comes through as well, it becomes more heartfelt and more than just recommendations. It should be somewhat of a conversation between parties like “I know you love this” and “I think this is up your alley” and “this is what I really feel.” Sharing music is part comfort and part discovery, it’s all part of the magic.  

And of course, timelessness. The best playlists aren’t just for the moment, they’re something you can return to years later and feel the same thing as you did when you first started listening to them. It’s like an auditory time capsule.  

Honestly, making playlists is more than just picking songs and putting them together – it’s about capturing and remembering memories, feelings, and phases of your life so that when they’ve passed, you can go back to them. When I go back through my monthly playlists, I’m transported back to the time that I made them, and I was listening non-stop. They represent something real and extremely vivid. It’s like the soundtrack of my life.  

So yes, playlists are this generation’s love letters. To who or what? That’s up to you.