I’ve been using Apple Music and previously iTunes for the bulk of the past 25 or so years of the digital music era and the thing that keeps bringing me back is the more album-centric way the app works along with things like Smart Playlists. Today I thought I’d share a playlist I created recently that I’ve really found to be a wonderful way to listen to music when I’m feeling uninspired.

Often, I either play the same albums over and over or pop over to a playlist I’ve created that surfaces any loved tracks not listened to in the last 6 months. Those are both wonderful, but I was looking for something a bit more diverse while still playing a lot of what I’m familiar with.

I call it “Good, Not Great”. And the rules are pretty simple:

I then shuffle through this playlist. As you can see, if I skip a song it gets pulled from the playlist for about 3 months and if it gets played I won’t hear it again for a month, so the songs stay pretty fresh. In addition, by cutting off the high and low ends I’m giving the “middle child” songs a chance. I hear a lot of old favorites that don’t get a lot of love. This type of stuff just isn’t possible with other streaming services, and is why I’ve stuck with Apple Music other than a few flirtations with Spotify and the now deceased Rdio.