How to Make a Coffee Shop Playlist.
Good morning everyone, it’s 10am and it feels like I’ve been alive for a thousand years. Rough start, I need to write something. I’m drinking a 6oz can of Boss coffee’s rainbow mountain blend, and I’m listening to Lilicay on Youtube who’s only made about 5, hour long “house music” live sets but they’re all bangers. It’s the week of Spotify wrapped and everyone is sharing their roundups. I recommend Tidal instead because they pay artists a little better, better sound quality, functions basically the same. If the feds are asking I actually only listen to those couple of free albums that Instagram lets you use as a business account that sound like Kickstarter background tracks, on loop all day.
At our cafe we play loud music from every genre, ultra niche to ultra pop, and have fun with it. I think we are easily top 3 in our city at doing exactly that. Part of being a space curator is listening to a lot of music, and so you’ve gotta put some work in and ideally also enjoy it.
I’m here to tell you that you can play good, loud music in the cafe.
I’ve worked at shops that don’t play anything except the droning buzz of faulty light bulbs, along with the occasional drive through “BEEP!” I’ve worked at stores that have a single ten track pop playlist on loop all day, and with coworkers who only listen to one band. I’ve worked in kitchens where someone’s cracked phone in a 4” deep steel pan would play dad rock with so much feedback and noise pollution it was somehow both unrecognizable and serviceable as a permanent fixture just as much as expo shouting orders. If you’ve ever worked in a situation like this you know it sucks, and if you’ve ever managed a store like this you know it’s easier said than done to change it. So here’s what I recommend.
Start with an app that can make playlists and generate radios like Deezer, Tidal, Pandora, Spotify etc.
Yea it’s valid to buy albums on bandcamp, play vinyl, or even listen to youtube dj sets as long as you pay for premium or have good ad block. The point of this is to make something sustainable though and not something that relies on one persons digital library or operating a turntable in a rush.
Now you want to make a few playlists that describe the vibe of the shop throughout the week. You may have a “early morning open” , “peak loud rush playlist”, or a “closing time do the dishes” playlist. These are core playlists that you want to be at least 8 hours long or whatever a standard shift is, and ideally double or triple that. They are going to play a lot and feel a lot shorter than they are, but they’ll also heavily inform what your app of choice recommends as additions and new music.
You also want some niche playlists like a “throwback pop” that’s very singable, or a “no vocals house” to put on when you don’t want to sing. At the shop now we’ve also got a “boyband” playlist for being serious, and a “bug music” playlist for being silly. If you love country music or classical jazz, then make a couple of those. You want these to be a couple of hours long, because you want them to feel special and punchy, without informing the taste of your algorithm to heavily.
Another key takeaway is that if the baristas who make these playlists embody these vibes, they can make things work that otherwise wouldn’t. For example, we aren’t a super southern shop but for awhile we did “country music Friday” because I was a little understaffed and the vibes were obnoxious. We’d play a lot of these big loud 90’s country hits that were safe for work but a little silly. I was embracing a sort of take it or leave it attitude, I’d talk to a lot of our regulars about it and we’d have a laugh about it and it was fun for awhile. To give the opposite example, one time I went in to this cafe that had a very punk aesthetic and they were playing Beethoven pretty loud, I asked what was up with the music and the barista was like “oh I don’t know, it’s jazz or something” very sleepy and disinterested, then annoyed I asked, talking quietly under it. Which was very funny but it was a weird fit you know? Baristas having some ownership of the vibes will make or break strong music choices. If we want to play some loud spanish beach rock, we’ve gotta have an upbeat vibe.
Adding to these playlists
So maybe you’re a huge music guy and maybe you’re not. If you’ve got staff you’ve got it a little easier. Ask yourself and ask your staff for a bunch of there favorite artists and albums, then begin combing through their discography.
Here are a few good rules in building a playlist:
no long quiet intros or outros, the songs needs to start and end without awkward pauses.
no heavy swearing, or if you’re a family friendly shop like us, no swearing at all. I don’t care if you’ve got an explicit filter, listen to the songs and check. Plenty of artists that are known for profanity have a few good clean songs if you look. That said, don’t take a grindcore band’s 40 second interlude track and add it your playlist, it will mess up your algorithm, I’m thinking more like kendrick and Sza’s “Luther” or the pop cut on an otherwise pretty esoteric indie album.
Have a driving beat, or something “upbeat” on every track that keeps the music moving and the playlist airy for a lively shop. This is true of loud and quiet songs, a good example is “late” by Teen Daze that is essentially a very low key song that has a strong driving rhythm. Tycho is another good quiet morning artist.
No more than tree tracks per artist. This way if you need to come back in and freshen up a playlist, you can swap out tracks with similar vibes and not have to go hunting for new artists. this also keeps things from feeling too repetitive.
Try to add tracks organically as you hear new ones you like over time. This is how you build great playlists long term is where I encourage you to listen to your apps “daily playlists” and smart shuffle through your existing playlists, so you can keep exposing yourself to new music. If it’s not too slammed, put on new albums while you have time to skip songs or turn off whack music.
Encourage staff to add new songs they think are a good fit, and remove ones that are bugging them. It’s also good to encourage staff to listen to new music and turn off what they don’t like. As long as they also know the rules and aren’t adding twenty of their favorite albums to a playlist, there are no hard feelings around swapping out tracks. One song you like but they don’t, is NOT the end of the world. It’s a shared space.
Remember, even if your playlist starts with a dozen tracks you can keep adding to them slowly and after a few weeks or months you’ll have a really strong foundation. You may find that you’re hearing the same songs and artists constantly, don’t worry you will break that curse. Give it some time.
A couple of niche tactics to change it up
Save a few albums that you think are a good fit front to back. There’s no shame in listening to whole albums from your fave artists. While you’re at it, add a couple tracks from each to your playlists. When you hear a random new song you love on the radio, go save that album and come back to it. If it’s a good fit for a permanent fixture then keep it saved, if not take those few good tracks, add them to your playlists and un-save the album.
Bandcamp radio weekly rocks. It’s typically a lot of quiet radio speak and new music that’s playable in a public setting. If the morning is slow and your device of choice has an internet browser you should check it out. If you work from home, it’s a nice morning ritual too.
Youtube has some really nice dj setlists that are perfect for the cafe. I mentioned Lilicay earlier, I’d also recommend the channels “Breakfast TILT”, “Cafe Sessions”, “humano studios” “yoyku record store” etc. Get down that rabbit hole and avoid the ai videos without a person in them.
Lastly there are dj’s popping up at coffee shops now, recording their sets and putting them on youtube. It kind of feels like cheating but you can play those and have a fascimile of the live dj vibe you may want. So hey.
Try this out, and have fun with it
Again I have to remind you that a short playlist of a few of your favorite tracks will make you feel better, happier and more comfortable. It’s worth the effort. Take a couple of hours and get it done, I promise you’ll feel it. Thanks for reading, -Elias
