How to Create a Modern Mixtape
Anyone else miss mixtapes and CDs? Those specially created, carefully curated pieces of physical media that you could share with other people in an attempt to expand their musical horizons? With the shift to first digital and then streaming music, creating the perfect mixtape has become a lost tradition.
As well explained in the movie High Fidelity , a mixtape can be used to subtly express your feelings to someone you have romantic feelings for, but I used to push them on friends, family and just about anyone I thought would benefit from it . my eclectic, diverse taste in music (of which, in my inflated opinion, I was quite proud).
And they were so much fun to put together. Choosing artists and tracks thoughtfully, specifying the order, thinking about how it would be received by the recipient, and using all sorts of tricks along the way – such as choosing a cover version of a song instead of the original, which had the added bonus of presenting two bands in one slot.
The greatest reward was introducing someone to a band I loved and seeing them fall in love with it. It worked both ways: I got a lot of mixtapes in return, mixtapes that introduced me to artists I still listen to today. This was an age when recommendations came from real people, not algorithms.
Of course, in 2024, sharing playlists is super easy—you can do it in any music streaming app with a couple of taps. However, some of the magic is admittedly lost without the physical media aspect, not to mention the effort of creating the record. With those caveats in mind, if you’re looking to make a modern mixtape, these are the top options I turn to.
Create a YouTube playlist
The benefit of YouTube playlists is that these playlists work almost anywhere, on any device, and can be accessed without subscribing to any music streaming service. As an added bonus, YouTube offers a range of music—rarities, live versions, and B-sides—that you won’t find anywhere else.
To get started, go to the YouTube website and find one of the tracks you want to play. Click Save below the video (you may have to click on the three dots to see this option), then choose Create New Playlist . Give it a name and make it “Unlisted” ; this means it will have a shareable link that someone else can view, but it won’t show up in YouTube search results.
Continue adding tracks in the same way. (Another reason I like making playlists on YouTube is that I can occasionally add movie dialogue or snippets of music if needed – as long as they’re on YouTube or you can upload them to your own channel. You can really get creative with what’s included.)
To find your playlist, select it under the “You” heading in the left navigation bar (click the three horizontal lines in the top left corner if you don’t see them). From here you can rearrange the order of the tracks by dragging the handles on the left. Click on the three dots on the right for more options, including deleting tracks and customizing your playlist thumbnail.
YouTube will suggest recommendations for your playlist if you’re lacking inspiration. Once you’re satisfied with your work, click the Share button on the left to create a link to send to someone else. If you really want to impress, you can get an embed code that you can use to host your playlist anywhere on the internet.
Generate Spotify Playlist Code
As I noted, each music streaming service has its own playlist sharing feature, and they’re usually not hard to find. You can simply use this link to share a modern mixtape with someone, as long as you’re both subscribed to the same service. But Spotify’s playlist sharing feature is a little more interesting, as it includes a QR code-style system.
They’re more like sound waves than digital barcodes, but the idea is the same: you get a visual code that you can scan to open your playlist. This means you can share it physically, such as in a card or letter, which gives you something more tangible than a link sent via email or text message.
That is, I’ll give you instructions for Spotify’s desktop apps, but you can also do it on the web and mobile apps. To get started, in the left navigation bar, click the + (plus) next to Your Library and then Create a New Playlist . Click on its name to give it a title, then click on the three dots at the bottom and make sure it’s set to public so you can share it.
To add new songs to a playlist, tap the three dots next to any track in the Spotify desktop app, then select Add to Playlist and select your mixtape’s playlist. Back in the playlist itself (you’ll find it in the left sidebar), you can rearrange songs by dragging them into place, and delete them using the three dots on the right. Click on the playlist thumbnail and you can add your own cover art, which is very convenient.
To generate the Spotify code, click the three dots under the playlist name, then Share to get a link to the playlist or an embed code (to post the playlist somewhere online). This playlist URL can then be pasted into the Spotify Codes site to get a graphic and download it for use anywhere.
If you’re doing this on a mobile phone, open the playlist, then tap the three dots (on iOS the code appears immediately, on Android you’ll need to select Show Spotify Code ).