I mean.. why not? It's a tiny purpose I found in my drab early 20's. Let's backtrack a little bit, shall we?
WHEN DID YOU START?
It began with the birth of this blog. My first curated playlist was the one I have compiled back in August 2019. I was thinking it's a good idea to have this as consistent monthly content for the blog. And I wasn't wrong. It's a post I am always looking forward to creating every time.
WHY DID YOU START?
I.. I was listening to the same two or three albums for a year straight. The albums were begging for me to leave them alone. When I was younger, I thought every type of song already exists. Every story is already told.
Heartbreak, newfound love, being alone, being happy, enjoying with friends, having a blast, a song about a car.. just anything you could think of. There's a song for that.
As expected, I was proven wrong. What do I know then? I was an inexperienced youngling. Little did I know there is a multitude of artists from different cultures who are waiting for me to listen to them.
HOW DO YOU DISCOVER NEW SONGS?
There are many ways! Usually, some are songs I hear from TV shows or movies. Or recommendations by my friends. It could be new music releases by my favorite artists. And of course, my beloved YouTube recommendations.
The Music Discovery Journey So Far
Initially, I added songs that were in my overplayed ultra-favorite albums. From there, I branched out (and braved through) the suggested songs usually shown on the right side of YouTube. I have to admit my hesitancy with new artists. Simply because I do not have the time to get to know them in detail the way I poured all my time to research about my favorite artists back then. But eventually, I decided to open up to new artists and new genres which made every month better and exciting. Just listening to them is enough to know about the artists.
There are instances when I decide to leave YouTube on autoplay. I just play one song that I know and let it play the next suggested tracks. I do this while I am cleaning my room or while I am in the shower so I wouldn't be tempted to change the song. YouTube decides my playlist for that moment.
YouTube Algorithm + NPR Music Tiny Desk Sessions
"Why did I get this in my recommended?" This is just the common question every YouTube audience asks if they encounter a weird video uploaded somewhere in the middle of 2008. Sometimes, the algorithm plays with us like that. Sometimes it brings us a video we never knew we needed.
Believe me when I tell you that YouTube Algorithm works on my behalf. Maybe 3-5 songs that make it to my monthly playlists are recommended to me by YouTube. I did not purposely search for these songs nor heard them from a TV show or movie. It was handed out to me on a silver platter by YouTube.
I can't even count how many artists NPR Music has introduced to me. These are just a few of them:
Nao
Raveena
Anderson .Paak and The Free Nationals
Masego
Snoh Aalegra
Black Pumas
And it pushed me further to get into R&B and soul music. There's a whole lot of artists in those genres who deserve recognition!
The pandemic didn't stop them from featuring artists since they effectively transitioned the concerts into 'Tiny Desk (Home) Concerts'. Since the pandemic, they now have almost 200 videos on their home concert list.
The Downside of YouTube Playlist
I'll be honest and say that it is NOT all rainbows and butterflies. The sad part about YouTube playlists is that over time, you wouldn't notice that one video from your list doesn't exist anymore. Maybe the uploader deleted the video or made it private. We couldn't blame them for that. This is why I always list down the songs in my monthly blog posts. There's a title left to remember from that unavailable video. And that list could aid me to remember what song or video bade goodbye to me and the entirety of the internet.
GIRL, DON'T YOU KNOW SPOTIFY EXISTS?
Girl, I do! It's just sad to discover that it wasn't the Spotify I knew back in 2014. It has changed A LOT. What is up with those 5 consecutive ads? I did consider transferring my playlists to Spotify when a friend shared his premium plan. But I just couldn't let go of YouTube.
You should also know some cover songs are even better than the original ones. Live sessions of artists can be a different experience as well. These things don't exist on Spotify!
And, the music videos. You have to watch the music videos. There are times when you are going to need a face to go with that honey-like voice singing to you.
WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME?
If you've reached this part, then you already know my favorite genre to listen to. Let this be my official invitation for you to check out my playlist if you think we're music soulmates. Recommend some songs (or your own curated playlist) to me down the comment section below, too.
Enjoy!
Always on the lookout for new songs,
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