The latest thinking and updates.

I write about the art of playlisting, music consultancy and an insight into the journey of building playlists, websites, business operations and anything else I discover along the way.

Do what you love.
I've always loved music. I'm a trained musician and completed an undergraduate and postgraduate research degree in music technology – the intersection between analogue and digital. From recording audio and manipulating it to writing my own software, I was hooked. …
Premium car dealership experience.
Imagine you're buying a premium car. A shiny BMW, Mercedes or Audi might be on your list. Would you want to make the second most expensive purchase in your life whilst listening to generic pop hits or, worse, to adverts? …
More than a coat of paint.
As part of my journey in building HumanPlaylistr I decided to redesign my website. This took longer and was harder to achieve than I expected but I was determined to do it myself. If you visited prior to the redesign, …
Music discovery.
100% handcrafted playlists. That’s my tagline, unique selling point and customer promise. It's built into the DNA of the HumanPlaylistr name. When you ask me to make a playlist, I guarantee I will have listened to every track in full …
Consultant or influencer?
HumanPlaylistr is first and foremost a consultancy, helping customers with event and venue playlisting, operating in a collaborative business environment. For individuals, I like to get to know their preferences, requirement and purpose of the event. For venues, I like …
Attenuate what you don’t want.
One of the techniques I learnt for equalisation, mixing, compressing and mastering is to attenuate the levels and frequencies you don’t want, then level the rest of the mix upwards. If you keep boosting what you do want, you very …
It’s not as easy as it looks.
When I set up this site I relied on WordPress' default setting of displaying the latest posts on the homepage. Engaging and updated content drives traffic and provides an insight into the creation of the site as I settle upon …
Travel venues launch.
I've just launched the venues section of the site, with travel being the first one to be completed. Travel venues have so many possibilities, from the retail environment of the travel agent through the journey and arrival at the destination. …
The price is right (hopefully).
It seems like a good time to wish you Happy New Year! It's taken me a while to come up with pricing for my services. I've published a rate card here and I'm hoping it gives potential customers an indication …
A small but significant update ®
Recently I was notified by the UK Intellectual Property Office that my trademark application has been successful. The challenge/objection period has nearly concluded (12th December update – now concluded with no objections) with nothing coming to me, so I've started …
What is HumanPlaylistr?
Hi, my name's Chris and I love music. You know how the automated services try to suggest music you might like based on your previous listening? It's quite good but it's not quite right. Then there's the 'recommended for you' …
Corporate responsibility and performing rights.
“Can I use Spotify to play music in my business?”Short answer: no. It’s disappointing isn’t it? It would be great if you could just buy a Spotify for Business licence (you kind of can, it’s called Soundtrack Your Brand). Sort …
A social media adventure.
I've only just started my twitter feed at twitter.com/humanplaylistr – it was in response to automated suggestions about what I might like based on my listening habits, and whilst there were some gems that got picked, they were never really …