Create Apple Music playlists

Enjoy top-quality tunes wherever you go by creating your own soundtrack

- Rob Mead-Green

IT WILL TAKE 20 minutes

YOU WILL LEARN  How to create and customise playlists in Apple Music for Mac

YOU’LL NEED  macOS 13 or later, Apple Music or iTunes Match sub (optional)

If you’ve ever made a mixtape or mix CD for a friend or significant other, then you’ll know how to create playlists – carefully curated compilations of favourite tracks that you can’t wait to share.

Playlists on Mac have existed since before the first version of iTunes in 2001 and, although they’ve been somewhat eclipsed by streaming audio and AI-generated ‘stations’ on Apple Music, they still have a part to play. That’s because playlists are easy to create and fun to dream up, and with Smart Playlists you can even get the Music app for Mac to do the heavy lifting for you – by applying rules that can automatically include some tracks (those you’ve ‘loved’, say) while excluding others (those you’ve ‘disliked’). Plus you can save playlists and sync them across your devices, share them as stations on Apple Music, and, yes, even in 2023, burn them to disc so you can share them old school.

You’re going to find out how to do that in this tutorial.

HOW TO Get started with Apple Music playlists

1 Your first playlist