Coming up with the perfect playlist theme and name to attract followers and grow your playlist can be hard, so I researched this topic and wrote about it here for you.
A good Spotify playlist theme and name will have a balance of aesthetic appeal, relevance, and search engine optimization to attract as many followers and likes to the playlist as possible.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to create your own perfect playlist based on what I’ve learned while creating my own Spotify playlists that have grown to over 3,000 followers each:
To learn more about the types of Spotify playlists you can make, how to craft the perfect theme and playlist title, as well as 15+ playlist theme ideas that you can go ahead and use right now, simply keep on reading, my friend. 🙂
16 Spotify Playlist Theme Ideas (You Can Use Today)
When deciding what type of Spotify playlist you should make, it can be a bit overwhelming at first: there are an endless amount of ideas but none seem to be coming to you right now.
To make things easier for you, here are 16 playlist theme ideas and categories for you to use (also, keep scrolling to the next section for a deeper breakdown into each of these for more info):
- Emotions & Moods
- Society & The World
- Geography & Cultures
- Specific Situations
- Events & Concerts
- Decades & Time Periods
- Genres
- Holidays & Important Dates
- Pop Culture
- Instruments & Sound Design
- Connections & Common Threads
- Record Labels & Crews
- Life Events & Milestones
- Best of…
- Tempo & BPM
- Collaborative Playlist Themes
Here are 16 Spotify playlist theme ideas that you can use to inspire your next great playlist:
1. Emotions & Moods
All music conveys a specific emotion or mood, and music can be the perfect companion for any type of mood or emotion you (or your playlist followers) might be experiencing.
Why not tap into these emotions and build a playlist around more detailed vibes such as:
- Hope
- Celebration
- Passion
- Wanderlust
- Nostalgia
- Loneliness
- Love lost
- Innocence
- Regret
- Solitude
- Temptation
- Adversity
- Fear
- Feeling invincible
2. Society & The World
Everyone can feel like they are the only ones that fit into society and the world at large in a unique way, but the truth is that a lot of people will resonate with these particular feelings.
Why not take inspiration from deeper philosophical thoughts and feelings like:
- Greed
- Spirituality
- Tradition
- Change
- Growing up
- Life and death
- Family
- Simplicity
- Nature
- Fitting in
3. Geography & Cultures
Artists that are from the same city, country or state may have a common thread that goes deeper than their location that can be worth exploring. Music from certain cultures can be equally inspiring.
- Artists & songs from the same country
- Artists & songs from the same city
- Artists & songs from the same state
- Artists & songs from a particular culture
4. Specific Situations
A playlist about a particular feeling, thought or emotion can be a bit vague, so why not create a playlist that is perfect for a very, very specific situation.
Some specific situations you can make playlists around include:
- Exploring abandoned buildings
- Songs to play to impress a girl
- Songs to play to impress a boy
- Music for a cocktail party
- Music for night rides through the city
- Backyard BBQ music
- Music for when chilling at a coffee shop in Vienna without your laptop
- Spotify’s best workout playlists
Tip: the more specific the more interesting your title will be. 🙂
5. Events & Concerts
Put together a playlist made up of artists playing a specific concert or festival, or simply a group of songs that perfectly fits a specific event.
- Top Songs from Coachella 2018
- The Grammies 2021
- Radiohead’s Complete Set List from Anaheim May 2018
6. Decades & Time Periods
Music from a specific time period or decade is a quite popular (if not very typical) type of playlist to create.
- Songs from the 90s
- Songs that sound like they are from 80s but aren’t
- Classical renaissance period music
7. Genres
This one might seem a bit obvious, but a playlist built around a specific genre or sub-genre is always a safe bet.
- Hair metal
- Lofi
- Deep house
- Female-fronted pop
8. Holidays & Important Dates
Music that fits a particular holiday or important date can be great (particularly on or near that specific holiday or date).
- Christmas
- Halloween
- Canada Day
9. Pop Culture
Music from or inspired by TV, movies, celebrities and other things from pop culture can be a great way to build a playlist.
- Songs from Marvel movies
- Music from the hit TV show, Friends
- Music that makes me feel like Don Draper
10. Instruments & Sound Design
Music is (usually) made from instruments and particular types of sounds, so why not have your playlist revolve around that?
- Songs with guitars
- Atmospheric songs
- Acoustic songs
- Piano songs
11. Connections & Common Threads
Similar to the idea of making a playlist featuring artists from a particular city, you can build up a playlist with a theme that focuses on unusual connections or common threads between theme.
- Songs about New York City
- Songs written in London from artists that aren’t from London
- All the songs that Kendrick Lamar features in (but isn’t the main artist)
12. Record Labels & Crews
Artists from the same record label tend to have a similar sound, which can be a great theme for a playlist. Taken a bit further, some artists aren’t on the same label but are friends or part of the same crew.
- Songs from Fueled By Ramen
- Songs from the Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All crew
13. Life Events & Milestones
Creating a playlist around a specific life event or milestone can be a great way to remember that event forever.
- Sweet 16
- First home
- Moving out of my parents house
14. Best of…
An easy way to create a playlist is to create a “best of” playlist of any other playlist theme.
- Best of Frank Sinatra
- Best of 90s songs
- Best of Lofi
15. Tempo & BPM
All music has a tempo or speed at which the song is performed which is measured in beats per minute (BPM). You can create playlists around songs that have the same tempo / speed / timing.
- Songs in 120 BPM
- Upbeat songs
- Downtempo songs
16. Collaborative Playlist Themes
When creating a collaborative playlist with your friends or loved ones, it can be a great idea to have a specific theme instead of just a collection of your friend’s songs.
Some collaborative playlist theme ideas include:
- Activities you do together (ie: golfing, chilling at the beach, dungeons & dragons, etc)
- A common thing you all like (ie: Marvel movies, surfing, cats)
- An upcoming event (ie: a concert, festival, movie, party, bar night)
Playlist Theme Generator
If you want artificial intelligence to take the wheel, there are some playlist theme generators that can take all the guesswork out of creating a playlist theme.
Here are the top 3 playlist theme generators available today:
These playlist generators can also help you come up with ideas for the name of your playlist as well as the overall theme of your playlist.
Spotify Playlist Names: The Best Way To Name Your Music Playlist
When coming up with your Playlist theme and its title, make sure that you remember this:
A good Spotify playlist theme and name will have a balance of aesthetic appeal, relevance, and search engine optimization to attract as many followers and likes to the playlist as possible.
Of course, your playlist name should let your potential listeners know what is in store for them, but it should also be optimized to get you as many new followers as possible.
Grow Your Spotify Playlist Followers With “SEO”
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and is a proven strategy that can grow followers and likes by ranking in the search results of apps like Spotify, Google, and YouTube.
You can structure your title and description so that your playlist shows up for certain Spotify user searches by adding keywords to your Spotify playlist name and description that Spotify listeners might be searching for like genres, moods, artist names, song names, etc.
Spotify Playlist Descriptions: Attract Followers With These Simple Tips
A good Spotify playlist description will have a balance of aesthetic appeal and search engine optimization to attract as many followers and likes to the playlist as possible.
- Moods
- Genres
- Funny / Humor
To learn more about how you can put together the perfect Spotify playlist description and for some ideas, you can use in your own playlist, check out my article on Spotify playlist descriptions. 🙂
How To Organize Your Spotify Music
The best 2 ways to organize your Spotify music are to do it yourself by creating and managing playlists or by using a third-party tool like ‘Organize Your Music’ by Playlist Machinery.
In both cases, you will first want to have an idea of how you want your music organized, whether it be by genre, release year of the recording, or specific moods or situations like studying or an upcoming party.
To learn more about how you can organize your music on Spotify, with a breakdown on both techniques, and examples of how others organize their music, check out my article on How To Organize Your Spotify Music. 🙂
How To Make Money From Spotify Playlists
Want to learn how you can make money from your Spotify playlists?
To make money from Spotify playlists you need to build up the playlist’s follower count with real listeners before you get paid directly from artists for song placements, for reviewing song submissions, or by selling your playlist.
The 3 main ways to make money from Spotify playlists are to:
- Get paid directly from artists for song placements
- Get paid for considering a song placement by reviewing song submissions
- Sell your playlist to someone else
To learn more, check out my full article on How To Make Money From Spotify Playlists. 🙂
How To See Who Liked Your Playlist On Spotify
You can find out how many people follow any Spotify playlist by opening the playlist in Spotify and looking for follower / like count near the playlist’s title and information. Although you can see how many followers you have, you can’t see the individual profiles.
The follower / like count will show up in different areas depending on if you view the playlist in the desktop app, smartphone app, and web browser
To learn more about if this feature will ever come to Spotify, if there are any workarounds, or how you can see the number of Spotify playlist followers in detail, check out my article called How To See Who Liked Your Playlist On Spotify. 🙂
