How to Make a Digital Mixtape

A mixtape is a playlist made for one person, in an order that means something. The cassette gave it two limits: a fixed length, and the time it took to record every song by hand. A digital mixtape can keep the first and skip the second.

Pick a Length

Blank tapes were sold by running time. A C60 holds 30 minutes a side and a C90 holds 45. Forty-five minutes is ten to fifteen songs, long enough for a mood to build and short enough to hear in one sitting. Decide the length first and every song has to fight for its place.

Choose the Songs

Start with more songs than will fit, then cut. Each one should be there for the person you are making it for. Rob, the record shop owner in Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, opens his tapes with a killer to grab attention, then takes it up a notch or cools it a notch.

Put Them in Order

Order is where a playlist becomes a mixtape. Think in two sides. Side A opens strong and ends on something that makes you want to turn the tape over. Side B can take more risks and ends on the song you most want them to remember. Listen to the joins, because a quiet song straight after the loudest track on the tape breaks the spell.

Make the Playlist on YouTube

Create a new playlist on YouTube or YouTube Music and add the songs in the order you chose. Set it to public or unlisted. A private playlist only plays for you, so the person you send it to would get a tape that stays silent.

Turn It Into a Tape

Copy the playlist's link.
Open Rock or Pop, press Make a tape and paste the link.
Choose a cover, a shell colour and a background.
Press Share and send the link.

The tape lives in its link, so there is nothing to upload and nothing stored on our side. Songs you add to the playlist later show up on the tape.

Write the Label

The label is the only liner note a tape gets, and it has room for one line. A name and a date say more than a clever title. "For Sam, summer 2026" beats "Vibes".