This is How it Works

I listen to music all day, every day. I particularly enjoy searching for music I've never heard. When I hear a new song I like, I add it to one playlist. I do this from January 1st to New Year’s Eve. At the end of the year, I go through that playlist and choose one song to “represent” each artist. Then I cut out a few so the playlist is at an even number. Last year it was 125, this year it is a whopping 300 songs by 300 different artists. It's organized for "optimal flow," allowing you to listen from start to finish, or simply hit shuffle.

A couple things to note: Not every song was released during the 2016 calendar year. I’m guessing 25-40% of the tracks were released within the last 3-5 years. There’s also a few “classics” from the late 2000s to the early 1950s I just really enjoyed this year, for whatever reason. When narrowing down the playlist, I gave preferential treatment to songs released in 2016. All of this is to say, my yearly playlists are not “The Year in Music!” but “This is What Jimmy Was Listening to in 2016!” (which is better, anyway).

Use this list as a jumping off point. If you find an artist or song you like, go check out them out! If you do that for all 300 artists, you won't "run out of music" for at least a couple years.

Enjoy!!

My Favorite Music of 2016

My Favorite Albums of the Year

(All of these are gems, so I put them in alphabetical order so I didn't have to rank them.)