Have you imagined on your way to and from school, or a walk or break without music? You will feel bored and feel like something is missing. Music is an essential part of our lives. The MZ generation is with music at many moments, putting earphones on their ears. They often listen to music to focus more on what they are doing or what they study. Music plays a role as white noise that helps them block exterior sound, keeping them more concentrated. The MZ generation does not just listen to music. They enjoy music in more ways of stimulating senses.
With the playlist, you can be anyone, be anywhere, and can feel the feeling you want right now. The situation is one of the necessary factors in listening to music. The form of ‘Playlist’ is trending in the way of consuming music. The MZ generation consumes music by finding, enjoying, and even creating playlists. It is comparable with recording their favorite songs on cassette tapes or just filling playlists of streaming services. Previously, people listened to music in uniformed popular charts on several music sites such as Melon and Genie. Melon is the most popular online music store and music streaming app in Korea, and Genie is the next. Now the MZ generation does not. They use more streaming platforms centered on taste-based music recommendations. It could have resulted from a change in the culture of music appreciation as they value individual tastes and sensibilities. Reflecting the tendency of the MZ generation, many music streaming services started to share playlists with AI, strengthening personalization and curation service considering age, time, weather, and situation. What they wanted was the music they needed right now. These recommended playlists could satisfy their needs.
Playlist channels on YouTube are already popular, gaining hundreds of thousands and millions of views. Some playlists provide listeners the specific mood people want to be. It can be love, travel, driving, dawn, summer, or anything. Playlists sometimes recommend emotional pop songs, lifetime masterpieces, and OSTs in the movie or drama, giving a chance to discover new songs. Not only music itself but other factors are vital in the playlists. Creators of these playlists write an attractive title with a specific situation like storytelling, not a simple one. These are all titles of playlists. By giving a title in the way of helping people imagine a particular moment, people can bury themselves at the moment, sharing their feelings. You can easily see the high-quality thumbnail. Various thumbnails like the scene of a drama or beautiful scenery are eye-catching. They create a specific mood, giving an image of a playlist. They inspire listeners to be more into the moment. Comments also help people communicate and interact with each other. While listening to playlists, people can share their memory of matching situations by comments. The interaction of these factors makes synergy. It naturally makes you imagine and puts you into a specific atmosphere or condition. It brings music to life.
People can immerse themselves at the moment they want with a playlist. Each playlist creates a space where people can share their tastes and sensibilities. In the process of sharing, they can sympathize and comfort each other. They can communicate and build a bond with others. It touched the sentiment of the MZ generation.
Nahyun Lee
K-UNIV Reporter
