HOW TO COMPOSE A MUSIC

01How to make a Spotify playlist on desktop or mobile, and organize your favorite music

You can make a new Spotify playlist at any time, whether you're using the desktop or mobile app.

You can also start a new Spotify playlist when viewing a particular song or album.

Spotify playlists are helpful for organizing your music for events or activities.

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The ability to make and customize Spotify playlists is one of the best parts of the music streaming service — and you can create a new one at any time.

You can start a new playlist from scratch, or begin by creating a playlist with a specific song or album. The process looks almost identical for the Spotify desktop app, and the iPhone and Android mobile app.

Here's how to create a new playlist both on your desktop and mobile device.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:iPhone 11 (From $699.99 at Best Buy)Samsung Galaxy S10 (From $899.99 at Best Buy)How to make a playlist on Spotify in the desktop app

1. Open the Spotify app on your desktop.

2. You'll find the "New Playlist" button in the bottom-left corner next to a plus (+) sign. This remains visible at all times while you browse and play music. Click it to begin.

Click "New Playlist." Marissa Perino/Business Insider

3. This will open a pop-up where you can create a playlist. Enter a name for the playlist, and a description if you wish. You can also add a cover photo — if you don't add one, the cover photo will default to the album covers of the songs you later put into the playlist.

4. Click the green "Create" button to make the playlist.

Save your playlist by clicking "Create." Marissa Perino/Business Insider

Your playlist, though empty, has now been successfully added to your account. It'll appear in the list in the left sidebar.

If the playlist is empty, Spotify will give you the option to "Go to new releases" to begin adding music. You can also click-and-drag a song or album into the playlist at any time.

You can also scroll down and add songs from your playlist's "Recommended Songs" list, which is generated based on the playlist's name and what songs are already in it, if any. Tap the "Add" button next to a song to add it.

You can also create a playlist using a specific song or album. To do this:

1. Find a song or album and click the three dots next to its name.

2. Select "Add to Playlist" from the drop-down menu.

If you've selected multiple tracks at once, you can add them to your playlist all at the same time. Marissa Perino/Business Insider

3. Choose the playlist you'd like to add it to, or pick "New Playlist" to begin the same process.

To rearrange the order of the songs on your playlist, simply click and drag a song to change its placement in the list. To delete a song, right click it and select "Remove from this Playlist."

How to make a playlist on Spotify in the mobile app

1. Open the Spotify app on your phone or tablet.

2. Tap the "Your Library" tab at the bottom.

3. Tap the "Create playlist" button next to a plus (+) sign above your existing playlists.

Select the "Create playlist" tab. Marissa Perino/Business Insider

4. Enter a name for your playlist.

5. Your new, empty playlist has been successfully added to your account. It will now appear on your desktop app as well. Tap "Add songs" to begin adding music.

Spotify will automatically generate suggested songs based on your playlist title. These will be listed at the bottom of the playlist. Tap the plus (+) sign to add a song or search for a specific song or album using the search function.

You can add songs freely, or add the songs suggested to you. William Antonelli/Business Insider

6. You can also create a playlist from a specific song. Tap the three dots next to a song's name and select "Add to Playlist" from the pop-up menu. Or, if you have Spotify Premium and you're looking at an album page, tap the three dots in the top-right.

Tap the three dots next to either the song or album cover. William Antonelli/Business Insider

7. Choose the playlist you'd like to add it to, or pick "New Playlist" to create a new playlist.

To rearrange the order of songs on your playlist, tap the three horizontal dots at the top-right corner of the playlist, select "Edit," and then tap and drag the horizontal line symbol to the right of song to reorder it in the list.

To delete a song from the playlist, from the same "Edit" page, tap the minus symbol to the left of a song, and tap "Delete."

How to make a playlist on Apple Music by adding and organizing your favorite tracks

To make a playlist on Apple Music, you just need to head to your Music app's "Library" section.

You can add songs from Apple Music to your playlist, or tracks that are saved locally to your iPhone or iPad.

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Creating a playlist on your Apple Music app is easy - and you can do so from your iPhone or iPad at any time.

Once you make a playlist, you can easily share your playlist with friends and family. And you can always make changes to the playlist, whether that means adding new songs, deleting old ones, or rearranging the tracklist.

Here's how to make a playlist in Apple Music.

Check out the products mentioned in this article: iPhone 11 (From $699.99 at Best Buy) iPad (From $329.99 at Best Buy) Apple Music (From $9.99 at Apple) How to make a playlist on Apple Music

1. Open the Music app on your iPhone or iPad.

2. Tap the Library icon at the bottom-left of your screen.

3. Tap "Playlists" at the top of the page.

4. If you've never made a playlist before, you'll be prompted immediately with the option to start making new ones. Tap the pink "New Playlist" button to begin.

If you've already made playlists, you'll see a list of your current playlists, along with the option to add a new playlist, next to a large plus sign at the top of the screen. Tap this plus sign to begin.

5. Both options will bring you to the New Playlist screen. Here, you can add a title for your playlist, upload custom cover art, and write a description. Tap the green plus sign next to "Add Music" when you're ready to start adding songs.

6. After tapping "Add Music," you'll then have four options.

Tap the search bar at the top to search for any song on Apple Music.

Tap "Library" to see your music sorted by artist, album, genre, and more. You can also pick out music from your pre-existing playlists. Your recently added music will also appear at the bottom of the screen.

Tap "For You," and Apple Music will pick out new music that it thinks you'd like, based on the music you've already listened to.

Tap "Browse" to see the current top tracks on Apple Music. This will usually be new songs by the most popular artists.

7. Tap the "+" sign beside the song or songs you'd like to add, and tap "Done" in the upper-right corner to add the songs to the playlist.

8. Rearrange the songs by tapping and holding the three horizontal lines to the right of a song, or tap the red minus symbol to delete a track. Once your playlist is set, tap "Done" to stop editing.

You can always add more music by tapping "Edit" in the top-right corner of the screen, and then tapping the green plus sign next to "Add Music" again. a screenshot of a cell phone

You can also add any song or album to an existing playlist by tapping and holding the song or album's title, selecting "Add to a Playlist," and tapping the playlist you'd like to add that music to.

Related coverage from How To Do Everything: Tech:

Tyler, the Creator Uses His Grammy Win to Make a Point About the Racism of Music Genres

Tyler the Creator poses in the press room with the award for Best Rap Album for "Igor" during the 62nd Annual GRAMMY Awards at Staples Center on January 26, 2020 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images)

Tyler, the Creator has been a huge part of music for some time. I remember discovering his music back when he was part of the collective Odd Future and following him since, along with the sea of controversies that have followed him. Still, he has undoubtedly grown and evolved as an artist and won the Best Rap Album Grammy Award for Igor, but used his platform and interview as a way to call out the racism within how the Recording Academy organization places artists in music genres.

Tyler was asked how he felt about the win, considering all the things that we have learned about the way the process is voted on. The Grammy winner said that he was grateful, but he was aware that whenever Black people “do anything that’s genre-bending,” it’s always put in the rap or “urban” category. He says that we all know what “urban” is code for, and he is not wrong.

For the last few years, the Grammys have come under fire more and more for snubbing Black artists in the non-“urban” slots. Meanwhile, to keep butts in the seats they will highlight these same artists in promotional materials. In 2019, Janelle Monaé was only nominated for two awards, “Album of the Year” and “Best Music Video.” Beyoncé made one of the best albums of her life with Lemonade and walked away with only “Best Urban Contemporary Album” and “Best Music Video.” Rihanna’s Anti, Nicki Minaj’s Pinkprint … the list goes on and on.

What makes it worse is that, by putting music that is obviously worthy of one of the Big Four Awards (Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist) in a genre category means that other artists, most of the time female artists, are snubbed because rap albums remain stuck in a musical “ghetto” that has only been overcome a few times.

Lizzo winning for “Truth Hurts” in Best Pop Solo Performance makes her the first Black woman to ever win in that category and the second Black person, after Pharrell Williams, to get the award. Pop music only means popular music, and considering that the most popular genre in the world is Rap music, and three of the biggest female artists of the last decade are Black women (Beyoncé, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj), it seems silly that the only awards most of them have won have been for things like “Best Rap/Sung Performance” and “R&B,” which are “Black” spaces in music.

That is not to take away from the artistry or importance of their work, or the fact that we do need to have spaces to highlight artists that primarily work in one genre. But Beyoncé is a pop star, Rihanna is a pop star, and they should be nominated for pop awards.

(image: Amanda Edwards/Getty Images)

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