Music Curation, what is it? Who is it? Could I be a music curator?
If you Google ‘curate’, the results are usually ‘to select, organize and look after the items in a collection or exhibition’. It sounds very similar to the word ‘create’ and is often assumed that they are the same thing. In one sense, by being a curator you are effectively creating an experience for other people through other people’s work, but, if it is not your own work and you are merely selecting and organizing a program for people to enjoy, its not the same thing as creating something yourself and putting it into the world for other people to enjoy. The distinction between is often a grey blurry line that sparks debate amongst musicians.
I want to explore what it means to be a curator and whether its something everyone can do. A famous example of music curation that is often overlooked is the people responsible for creating line ups for festivals. The person/people in charge of that are curators of music as they look at the festival demographic and curate a line up of artists from different age ranges and genres. However, curating music can also be making a playlist for a house party. It isn’t on the same scale but it is definitely the same premice. You observe the target audience and take into account age range likes/dislikes and organize a line up (digital in this case) that will have something to suit everyone so that everyone has an enjoyable time.
If house parties aren’t your thing, think to when you study, clean up, work out, take a bath. Most people have designated playlists for each of these tasks with music tailored for each specific mood you’re in doing the task. One example of this is a playlist curated by Spotify, designed for helping concentration (https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX3PFzdbtx1Us). The pieces in the playlist start off very soft and ambient but become more focused and intense towards the end creating a narrative for the listener, aiding them in their task. I think if you do this, then you are a music curator.
When discussing ‘who’ does curation, people often tend to immediately aim high, straight to the professionals: people who are curating festivals, concerts, high art events. Usually, the majority of music curators are bypassed who are your average person, who I believe actually enjoy music the most and are the most enthusiastic about it. They are curating music to get them through their day for their own enjoyment, enthusiasm, and sanity. Professionals are usually being paid big bucks to curate the perfect experience for other people, going off statistics (or algorithms in the case of Spotify) to select the best pieces.
Andrew (founder of Musicto.com) explains that successful music curators not only love music but they curate music for other people through the feedback loop that they create through starting off small and doing it for the sheer love of it.
Therefore, you can curate playlists to get you through daily life and make them accessible to other people, like you, and end up getting paid for it. This to me is so much more personal and I value this more than a Spotify curated playlist as most of the time you only ever actually like around 3 songs in the playlist anyway, amirite?
