Create a “live Playlist” for Your Kids
Maybe it starts with the song that was playing when your baby was born. Or the one that always put them to sleep. The first song they actually danced to, their little butt bouncing to the rhythm as abruptly as all babies dance.
As our children grow up, some songs take on special meaning. It could be the song that triggers the family dance party every time, the song they played solo during the fourth grade choir concert, or the song you always hear them sing in the shower. Right now, you think that you can never forget something so special. But after a year you will say, “What song was that?”
One parent in our Facebook group Offspring had the idea to combine all of these songs into what they call a “live playlist,” a collection of special family songs that they add over time that they can eventually give to their son. However, the only problem was figuring out how to actually make the list. Will Spotify dominate in a decade or two? How will we consume and share music when all of our children are grown up?
Some members suggested using Spotify, Google Play Music, or Amazon to compile the list – along with periodic backups – but the best suggestion comes from band member Robin:
The problem with any digital platform is that as the rights to certain songs and people’s preferences change, any digital service can delete songs … I would keep the recorded playlist in the order in which you add things (and then you can even keep records (when you started listening to them and why they matter) and then when you want to give your son a list, you can compile the actual audio files and not worry if you lost anything.
Boom, this is what we all have to do. Because even if you compile everything on a digital platform that survives their childhood, chances are we will forget when we added certain songs or what meaning they meant to us at the time. With a written (and then digitally compiled) list, our children will receive the music of their childhood and all the memories associated with it.