Our Monthly Tip: Make A Shared Playlist To Memorialize Your Loved One

Our Tip of the Month

Music is profoundly linked to long-term personal memories. Creating a playlist that can be shared among those who are separated by miles but united by grief can be a powerful connecting force.

This practice doesn’t have to be limited to long-distance mourning by any means. Creating a memorial playlist to honor a loved one who has died can be helpful for an in-person celebration of life, as well, and can also be listened to for years to come.

How-To Suggestions

To create a personalized shared playlist, you’ll need at least two things:

1. A personal computer, smartphone or tablet.
2. Software or an app that allows playlist creation, such as  iTunes, Spotify or YouTube. (Click links for how-tos for creating a playlist.)
3. Optional — Blank CDs/tapes/USB drives to create a physical copy of the “in memory” playlist to save or share with friends and family.

If you want to make it a collaborative effort, you have a couple of options:

1. You can invite people to think of songs that are meaningful to them and the person who has died. They can email their songs to a central location where one person collects suggestions and then builds the playlist from there.
2. If you use a mobile music app, you can create collaborative playlists. Anyone you invite to the playlist can add songs. This can be a fun and flexible way to share memories, but if you have a specific vision for this playlist, you may want to opt for No. 1 above.
   1. Here are instructions for how to create a shared playlist on Spotify.
   2. Here are instructions for how to create a shared playlist on YouTube.

Creating a shared playlist in memory of your loved one can be a great comfort to those who are grieving, even when they are separated by many miles. Let us know if you’ve found connection and grief validation through music by commenting below.