What makes a good "mixed tape?"

[Anonymous]

Yes, I know they're not "tape" anymore, but what holds a mix together other than genre?

When there's a purpose like exercising, they probably need to be pretty up tempo, but if it's for background music, so people really think about the order and flow of songs or do you just put together a bunch of songs you like?

[Anonymous]

Depends on the purpose. If I'm making a mix/playlist for a party (recently done for baby showers and an engagement party) I think about the tone and flow of the event. So for baby showers it was softer background music. For one of them we went with all female singers. For the engagement party, which was in the evening, started out with mellow music and transitioned to "party" music. Of course I had to have a general sense of timing for the event to correspond to timing of the playlist. Also, I tried to keep the music transitions somewhat logical. The honorees love rap and 80s hair bands but we weren't jumping from GnR to Kanye to Bon Jovi to Pitbull, but keep artists with a similar feel together. That's just me though. I know others who like to really mix it up

[Anonymous]

Pacing.

[Anonymous]

I definitely think about order and flow. That's the hardest part.