The Art of Building a Playlist: There's More to It Than Hitting Shuffle
Behind the Frequency — Music, radio, creativity, and life on the other side of the speakers
People sometimes ask how I put together the music for my radio shows.
Well, maybe they don't actually ask that very often, but I'm going to tell you anyway.
Because there's a lot more to building a good playlist than opening a music library, grabbing a handful of songs, and hoping they get along.
Although, to be fair, sometimes that's where the magic starts.
Every Tuesday, I host Off the Beaten Track on Jedi Council Radio. It's a two-hour journey through music that doesn't particularly care about genre boundaries, release dates, or whether two songs are supposed to belong together.
And that's exactly how I like it.
A Playlist Is More Than a Collection of Songs
Anybody can put together a list of great songs.
But a list of great songs doesn't automatically make a great radio show.
Think about it.
You could take twenty of the greatest songs ever recorded, throw them into a playlist, and still end up with something that feels disjointed.
Why?
Because the relationship between the songs matters.
The way one song ends and another begins can completely change the listening experience.
Sometimes you want to maintain the energy. Sometimes you want to change direction. And sometimes you want to catch your audience completely off guard.
There's a certain satisfaction in going from one musical style to another and discovering that the transition works beautifully, even though nobody would have thought to put those two artists together.
That's one of my favorite parts of being a DJ.
Finding those unexpected connections.
Genre? What Genre?
I've never understood why music has to stay in its assigned little box.
Rock goes over here. Disco goes over there. Motown gets its own shelf. Alternative music has to sit in the corner looking mysterious.
Who made these rules?
And more importantly, why should I follow them?
One of the things I love about Off the Beaten Track is that I can play Stevie Wonder, follow him with Depeche Mode, wander into some classic rock, and eventually find myself somewhere completely unexpected.
The trick isn't making every song sound alike.
It's making the journey feel intentional.
Sometimes that connection comes from rhythm. Sometimes it's a similar emotional quality. Sometimes it's the way two vocalists approach a song.
And occasionally, it's simply because I think the combination sounds fantastic.
That's a perfectly legitimate reason, too.
Reading the Energy
A good playlist has movement.
You can't necessarily keep everything at full throttle for two hours. Eventually, even the most enthusiastic listener needs a little room to breathe.
But you also don't want to drain all the energy out of a show and leave everyone wondering whether the DJ wandered off to make a sandwich.
There's a balance.
I think of it as creating waves.
You build momentum, let the energy rise, change the mood when it feels right, and then find another way to bring the audience along.
A slower song isn't automatically a bad choice after an energetic one. Sometimes that contrast is exactly what makes the moment memorable.
But it needs to feel like a choice rather than an accident.
The Songs You Forgot You Loved
One of my favorite things about putting together playlists is rediscovering music.
You know that feeling when a song comes on and suddenly you're transported back twenty or thirty years?
Maybe you remember where you were when you first heard it. Maybe it reminds you of somebody. Maybe you haven't thought about the song in decades, but somehow you still know every word.
Those are wonderful moments.
And I love being able to create them for listeners.
Not every song needs to be a massive hit. Sometimes the most interesting selections are the tracks that received a little radio attention, disappeared from regular rotation, and have been waiting patiently for somebody to dust them off.
I enjoy finding those songs.
The forgotten favorites. The overlooked album tracks. The artists who deserved more attention.
That's part of what Off the Beaten Track is all about.
Sometimes a Cover Changes Everything
I also have a particular affection for artists who take a familiar song and make it their own.
I'm not talking about somebody simply recreating the original recording with slightly different instrumentation.
I mean those performances where an artist approaches a song from a completely different perspective and suddenly you hear something in it that you never noticed before.
Lady Gaga's interpretation of Elton John's "Your Song" is one of those performances for me.
It's familiar, but it has its own personality.
Those kinds of recordings can be wonderful additions to a playlist because they bridge different musical worlds.
They give listeners something recognizable while offering a fresh experience.
And sometimes they become favorites in their own right.
Then There's the Technical Side
Of course, putting together a radio show isn't entirely about artistic inspiration.
There's also the practical business of making everything work.
I use SAM Broadcaster, and like any broadcasting software, it has its own little personality.
For example, songs with extremely quiet introductions or long, fading endings can sometimes get clipped by the software's audio detection and transition settings.
Which means a song that sounds wonderful when you're listening to it by itself might not work quite as well in a broadcast playlist.
So I have to consider more than whether I like a particular recording.
How does it begin? How does it end? Will the transition sound natural? Is there enough audible material at the beginning for the software to handle it properly?
These aren't necessarily things listeners think about.
And that's the point.
When everything works, the technology should disappear into the background and let the music do its job.
Planning Without Losing the Spontaneity
Here's something else I've learned.
A playlist can be carefully planned and still leave room for surprises.
I like having a structure for my shows. I want to know that I have enough music, that the pacing makes sense, and that the overall experience is going somewhere.
But I also enjoy the freedom to change things.
Maybe a listener makes a request that fits beautifully into the moment.
Maybe a particular song inspires me to head in a different direction.
Maybe I simply decide that the next track needs to be something completely different.
That's part of the fun of broadcasting live.
A playlist is a plan, not a prison sentence.
And sometimes the best moments happen when you wander away from the original plan.
Music Is Personal
Ultimately, I think that's what makes DJing interesting.
Every DJ brings something different to the music.
Two people could start with the exact same collection of songs and create completely different shows.
Their choices would reflect their personalities, their experiences, their memories, and their understanding of how music fits together.
For me, music has never been about staying loyal to one genre or proving that I know more obscure artists than somebody else.
It's about enjoying the incredible variety of sounds that people have created.
It's about finding connections.
It's about sharing something that makes another person smile, remember, dance, think, or simply enjoy being alive for a few minutes.
And sometimes it's about playing a song simply because it's a damn good song.
No further explanation required.
The Next Time You Hear a Playlist...
Whether you're listening to a radio show, a DJ set, or somebody's carefully assembled collection of favorite songs, pay attention to the journey.
Notice how the energy changes.
Notice the unexpected transitions.
Notice when a song you haven't heard in years suddenly appears and makes you grin.
There's a good chance somebody put some thought into making that moment happen.
And if you're listening to Off the Beaten Track, there's also a reasonable chance that I just decided two songs from completely different musical universes needed to meet.
Sometimes they become best friends.
Sometimes they look at each other suspiciously.
But that's the adventure.
Off the Beaten Track: Tuesday Edition airs Tuesdays at 6 PM Eastern on Jedi Council Radio.
You can listen anytime at https://djjediradio.com, where the music plays 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without commercials.
Requests are always welcome, because some of the best musical discoveries come from sharing what we love.
Until next time, keep listening, keep discovering, and don't be afraid to wander off the beaten track.
May the Music Be with You
— DJ Jedi
Behind the Frequency
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