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Managing Playlists With gigabytes of songs and mp3s stored on your average digital music player, there has to be a better way of hearing the songs you like other than by hitting "next". Packing every song you've ever known and loved has advantages and disadvantages. Sure - if you ever had the urge to hear a specific song or revive a memory, you've got it handy, but it can be tough as nails to try to listen to music regularly without running across patches of songs that aren't worth hearing at that moment. The solution is playlists - grouping songs together in clumps of 25 to 50 songs or more based on some sort of theme or other rhyme or reason. Instead of playing your entire collection of mp3s, you're choosing one segment - choose the segment that fits your mood, and you'll spend more time enjoying and less time forwarding. Of course, too many playlists become just as unmanageable as having too many songs, so aim to have about half a dozen to a dozen, and delete the ones that you just don't use anymore - you can always recreate them later if you change your mind. Some of the most common types of playlists are: the 40 most frequently played songs the last 40 songs added to the collection playlists that gather songs from artists that have had wide-ranging careers, like a Sting playlist that includes songs from his solo career as well as the Police playlists that gather songs from cities or regions, like "Seattle sounds", or genres, like "Classical favorites" or "Hot jazz tunes" playlists that all elicit the same mood, like "Sleepy tunes" or "Love songs" It's always a good idea to think ahead and have a few extra surprise playlists, since the right theme or thought can make someone's day: a party or dance playlist, in case you get the chance to turn a spontaneous gathering of friends into something more with the right music at the ready a playlist of your best friend's or partner's favorite songs, which is always a nice thing to have to make them feel special a playlist of holiday music, just in case your parents or family get caught in the mood over the festive season Don't be afraid to play around a bit until you find the right mix of playlists for your mp3 collection - few things can make such an impact to your listening enjoyment. copyright © 2009 digital music tips