Aesthetics, emotions or mere collections: why do we make playlists for every mood?

Magda Kanecka | December 2025

Music influences us in ways that extend beyond mere enjoyment and into the realms of cognition and neuroplasticity. It is a well-known fact that when we listen to an artist we love, our mood is nearly guaranteed to improve. 

In a book titled “Wellness Wellplayed,” music therapist Jennifer Buchanan describes that creating playlists is now a popular means of managing stress, regulating emotions, and improving productivity. 

Our brains, to some extent, are wired to self-categorise and organise different topics and events into distinct parts through long- and short-term memories. Perhaps, when applying this to playlist-making, our brain is sifting and sorting through different songs to align with various moods, aiding expression and the regulation of emotions.

Other columnists have claimed that creating and sharing playlists can be viewed as the sixth love language. Music genres are frequently associated with different personality types in psychology; thus, sharing music is almost like exchanging parts of your personality with someone, if you put it this way.

The ability to set a mood with a simple curation of songs is a true art in my eyes – and even more satisfyingly, there is nothing more hard-hitting than finding a Spotify profile of someone whose playlists match the broader aesthetic of the profile, from profile picture to playlist covers, to names and even descriptions of the music collections.

Playlists, to me, are a creative means of taking a situation or an event in my life – whether positive or negative – and curating musical moodboards that fit each case. It makes me feel less alone in whatever it is I am going through, and helps me appreciate the positive moments.

It doesn’t come without reason that many people associate songs with specific times in their lives. For me, my early teens are defined by One Direction, JLS and early 5 Seconds of Summer. This shifted into my emo phase with My Chemical Romance, All Time Low and Mayday Parade, with notes of anime openings in between. As I entered young adulthood, this transitioned into an increased appreciation for the 1980s and ‘90s, along with indie and alternative rock tunes featuring numerous female voices. All of these phases still have respective playlists aligned on my Spotify.

I myself am a culprit of a minor inconvenience happening to me, and next thing I know, I end up with at least five playlists trying to capture that feeling to prove to myself I am not alone – that I am understood.

At other times, I have created playlists for fun – for parties, to collect my favourites of my top artists’ songs, or to share recommendations. Friends, family, romantic interests, columnist Ellie Kollie was right when she wrote that playlists are the forgotten love language.

Playlists are nostalgia, motivation, excitement – but they are also sadness and heartbreak, in the most beautiful way. Whenever I scroll through my Spotify account, I can almost always pinpoint where I was in life when I made each of my playlists. I go back to them as if I am flicking through a diary. 

They are a way of discovering new artists and underground favourites. I enjoy making all my playlist covers match on my profile, though I must admit that I am not always the most creative with playlist names.

To underestimate the power of music on us in its core ways is to ignore how easily our brains are influenced, which is not necessarily a bad thing. In this case, playlists are an excellent way to feel understood and express our emotions, and perhaps share them with others. 

Next time you hit the create button on your chosen streaming app, remember there can be added benefits to your music collections that you may not have realised before.

It’s psychologically and scientifically proven!