Party Playlists

Party Playlist Tips

DJing a party from your phone or computer is totally possible and easy. It’s not rocket science.

BUT.

It’s also not an auto-pilot task. You do have to bring some attention to it, and consider these tips:

Highlight the songs in your playlist, right click, and click “add to queue”

Note: if you’re on your phone, you’ll need to add each song to your queue one by one by clicking the three dots next to a song.

  • Make your playlist into a queue: Make your playlist in Spotify. Then, when you’re ready for the party, DON’T press play, like you might want to. Instead, highlight the entire playlist, right click, and click “add to queue.” Your queue will then be your playlist for the night.

Where to find the “queue” icon, at the bottom of your Spotify app

What your queue will look like. You can move songs up and down from here.

  • Queue, don’t click: Do you have a song you want to add in the moment? Got a request from someone? Our tip: add that song to the queue, as opposed to clicking on the song directly in Spotify. That way, when the song is over you’ll dive right back into the playlist (as opposed to suddenly being in the middle of a TLC album). Once you add it to your queue, you can check out your queue and move it up or down, depending on when you think it should play.

  • Crossfade: Go into your Spotify settings and crossfade the songs from one to the next. Our favorite amount is to crossfade by 7 seconds.

  • Shuffle is a nightmare: Don’t do it. Not worth it. If you ever get out of your playlist accidentally, you’ll not be able to go back and ensure you won’t play a song for the second time.

  • Party openers: Personally, I like to have a separate party opener playlist, because the time before the dancing really starts is truly its own vibe! Nothing is worse than getting to “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” before the crowd is ready. I have a playlist linked below just for this purpose.

  • Know when to move on: Some songs make great dance songs - but only for a minute or so. Trust your gut when a song has run its course, and get on to the next one. A classic example (for me, personally) is “Believe” by Cher.

  • Play the hits: Your taste in music is perfect, I bet. Truly, I bet it’s pristine. However: parties are not always the time to try out your favorite underrated songs on a big audience. (I know, I know, this entire project is based on getting more people to fall in love with b-sides … but parties are not that time.) I feel strongly about telling you this for a very specific reason: it’s SO SAD and demoralizing to watch an entire dance floor clear when you play a beloved song that you thought would bring the whole room joy, but instead they barely register it since they don’t already know it. I want to protect you <3

  • Phone tips: If you’re using your phone, be ready to have your messages on “do not disturb,” remember that you can’t take videos while playing music, and the general use of your phone might be limited for the duration of the party.

  • Bangers block: Pick a part of your queue to be the “bangers” part. Of course, your playlist will hopefully be full of bangers, but there’s always a specific run during a playlist where I like to have a bunch of songs that are just dance floor GOLD all in a row. At the moment when you feel that the dance floor is full, vibes are good, and people are having a great time, immediately move that entire block up the queue, and watch the magic unfold.


Bangers Only

This is a no-skip playlist designed for a perfect transition from one song to the next.

By the way: this was made by a white girl whose middle school experience spanned 2003-2006. Does that inform the vibe? You be the judge.

The Party Opener

The doors have opened. But the dance floor isn’t ready yet. This gets people grooving.

Note: this playlist is WAY longer than you need. Pick your favorites and add them to your queue!