1. Find your favorite songs
This can be of any genre. My favorite playlist contains all my favorite songs which range from '60s/'70s rock, '80s pop, and '90s grunge, to modern day indie rock, hip hop, and today's hits.
2. Put the most energetic song first
This doesn't have to be genre specific. In one playlist I have LCD Soundsystem's indie disco song Dance Yrself Clean first while in another I have David Bowie's Let's Dance as the first song (the fact that both of them have the word "dance" in them does not surprise me).
If you're making a mellow playlist, choose the song that has the calmest mood. In my "Bonfire Blues" playlist, I set Clair de Lune as the beginning song since it prepares the listener for the following vibe -- cool, calm, and collected.
3. Put connecting songs together
For example, Happiest Days of Our Lives leads into Another Brick in the Wall Pt. 2 so pairing them together makes your playlist flow. Another example is The World At Large and Float on by Modest Mouse or Everything Now and Signs of Life by Arcade Fire.
4. Separate by era
If you have too many 70s rock songs back to back, your playlist will turn into a throwback playlist. If unless your playlist only contains one genre, attempt to mix it up.
5. But also group by era
Switching from Bob Dylan to Hozier to The Rolling Stones to Vampire Weekend can give your listener a headache. In one of my playlists, I have The xx, Glass Animals, and Flume back to back. The reason for this is they have similar sounding music, so the flow moves smoothly between songs yet at the same time the different genres cancel out the era problem.
6. Match by instrumentation
What I mean by this is pay attention to the instruments being used in each song. Not good at picking out different instruments? No problem! Style can be another way to group songs: I paired Bjork's It's Oh So Quiet and Steely Dan's Black Cow because both have a jazzy feel to them.
7. End with a song that brings it all home
My go to end-of-a-playlist song is You've Got a Friend in Me by Randy Newman. It really encompasses the idea of happy endings. If your playlist is hardcore and deserves a menacing ending, go ahead and find the most raging song that best fulfills the role.
Bonus: Find an online playlist and shuffle it to find a new order.
Bonus Pt. 2: Order by song title to create nifty sentences or phrases.
