Modern popular dance music initially emerged from late 19th century’s western ballroom and social dance music. During the early 20th century, ballroom dancing gained popularity among the working class who attended public dance halls. Dance music became enormously popular during the 1920s. In the 1930s, called the Swing era, Swing music was the popular dance music in America. In the 1950s, rock and roll became the popular dance music. The late 1960s saw the rise of soul and R&B music. The rise of disco in the early 1970s led to dance music becoming popular with the public. By the late 1970s, electronic dance music was developing. This music, made using electronics, is a style of popular music commonly played in nightclubs, radio stations, shows, and raves. Many subgenres of electronic dance music have evolved.
In today’s world, there are the following genre’s of music
And below is a playlist of all time beats that will help you come up with the perfect music for a party in each genre;
- Rock Playlist
- Soul music/R&B Playlist
- Funk Playlist
- Country Music Playlist
- Reggae Playlist
- Hip hop music Playlist
Building A Playlist
We offer a systematic approach to building a party music playlist. Begin by using the following guidelines for selecting music:
- Choose upbeat tempos for a light and happy mood
- Mix genres to appeal to all tastes
- Vary styles to add interest
- Contrast artists for diversity and to avoid sameness
- Interject humor and nostalgia for surprises & smiles
- Select tunes in the spirit of your theme
Step 1: You will need about 40 songs for a two-hour party, plus 10 songs for the 30 minutes before and 10 songs for the 30 minutes after.
Select songs to create a picking list of 60+ songs for the party. Separately, create picking lists of 15+ songs for the pre-party and 15+ for the post-party.
Bear in mind that the songs you choose will impact your party on 3 levels:
- Aesthetic of the individual song
- Interplay of songs by grouping and contrast
- Overall effect of the playlist
Aesthetic Of the Individual Song
Start with your current and past favorites. Choose upbeat songs, and add tunes that you think your guests will enjoy. With your old favorites, use songs with recognizable melodies.
Include a wide variety of genres and a diverse selection of artists. For example, mix jazz and retro classics with some current pop and rock, blend in some alternative and reggae, a dash of country and hip-hop, then top it off with some dance tunes.
Avoid songs over 4 minutes long and arrangements with lengthy intros and bridges. During a fast-paced cocktail party, your guests will only catch music in 3-5 second snippets.
Keep the energy level of your party high medium to fast tempos. In addition, beautiful relaxing music will be slow and painful in the festive social atmosphere of your party.
The pre-party playlist is to set the mood for you and your friends that you have invited to come over early.
The post-party playlist will start at the ending time of the party and will allow a little extra buffer to send off your straggling guests.
Step 2: Edit your picking lists to keep your music fresh and interesting, as follows:
Remove all songs over 4 minutes (exceptions allowed)
Remove slow songs
Choose a maximum of 1 song from each artist on your list and remove the rest (no exceptions)
Interplay Of Songs By Grouping and Contrast
Once you have picking lists comprised of more than enough songs for your party, you can create segments to accentuate the interplay of the songs and highlight contrasts.
Step 3: Create 10 segments of 4 songs each from your party picking list and 2 segments of 5 each from your pre-party and post-party lists.
Select songs that complement, but contrast styles and tempo. Then take each segment and arrange the 4 songs in order from the slowest song to the fastest one.
After listening to your songs in order, replace any song where the sound level is too soft or loud in comparison to other recordings in the playlist.
Overall Effect Of the Playlist
The overall effect of your playlist should move from slow to fast over the duration of the party with rises and falls with each segment.
For this reason, concentrate more of your retro and lounge music in groups toward the beginning of the party and current pop hits and dance tunes toward the end of the evening.
Step 4: Order the 10 segments from the slowest segment to the fastest. Move songs between segments, as desired, keeping them arranged from slowest to fastest song within each segment. Repeat for the pre- and post-party playlists.
Use your campy songs at the start of your 4 song segments, whenever possible. Campy can get old too, so make sure these types of songs are at least 20 minutes apart (every other segment) in the overall playlist.
The end result is that the juxtaposition of the fastest song in one segment with the slowest song of the next will create dramatic musical highs and lows throughout the evening.
Step 5: Adjust your 3 playlists for time. Your pre- and post- party playlists should be approximately 30 minutes each, while your party playlist should be about 2 hours (or the length planned for your party).
Step 6: Listen to the complete playlist and make adjustments as needed.
