How to make a mixtape

How do you make a mixtape, step by step?

Making a mixtape takes 10 steps, from choosing who it’s for and gathering 30 to 40 candidate songs to sequencing, timing, naming and burning the disc.

1. 01
   Pick the person and the reason

   Write one sentence: who the mix is for and what you want them to feel when they play it. Every song should serve that sentence.
2. 02
   Make a long list

   Collect 30 to 40 candidate songs over a few days: songs you have shared, songs tied to places you have been, and one or two they have never heard.
3. 03
   Cut to one song per artist

   Keep the strongest song from each artist, then keep cutting until you are close to 80 minutes. Every song should earn its slot.
4. 04
   Choose the opener and the closer

   The first track sets the tone in its first 30 seconds. The last track is the one they will remember, so save your most meaningful song for it.
5. 05
   Sequence the middle

   Build energy in waves rather than a straight line, and check every handoff between songs for tempo, key and mood.
6. 06
   Check the running time

   Keep the total under 79 minutes for a CD, or 45 minutes a side for a C90 cassette. Allow about 2 seconds per track for the gaps.
7. 07
   Decide clean or explicit

   Pick one version for the whole mix before you buy or burn anything, based on where it will be played and who might be listening.
8. 08
   Name it

   Give the mix a short title that fits on a spine, ideally a private joke or a line only the recipient will get.
9. 09
   Make the cover, tracklist and note

   Print a cover and a numbered tracklist, and write a short note about why a few of the songs are there.
10. 10
    Burn it, or have it made

    Burn it as an audio CD from music you own and play it through once before you give it, or send the playlist to a service that burns it for you.

How do you pick a theme for a mixtape?

A mixtape theme starts with one person and one reason. Before you pick a single song, finish this sentence: This is for ___, so they feel ___ when they play it. A mix for “anyone” ends up as a list of songs you like; a mix for one person has a point of view.

Some reasons that give a mix a clear shape:

• An anniversary. Songs from each year you’ve been together, in order, so the disc tells the story. Our anniversary song list is a good place to fill gaps.
• A long drive. Songs that build and keep moving, with sing-alongs placed where the miles get dull.

How do you choose songs for a mixtape?

Choose mixtape songs by collecting 30 to 40 candidates, keeping one song per artist, and adding two or three picks with a hidden meaning for the recipient.

Make a long list first

Give yourself a few days to collect 30 to 40 candidates in a scratch playlist. Add anything that comes to mind: songs you’ve sent each other, songs from a trip, the song that was playing somewhere you both remember. Don’t judge yet. A long list makes the final cut stronger because you’re choosing the best 20 out of 40 instead of hunting for the twentieth.

One song per artist

The oldest rule of mixtape making: no artist appears twice. Two songs by the same band makes the mix feel like a greatest-hits disc, and it wastes a slot you could give to something they don’t know. If you can’t choose between two songs by one artist, pick the one that fits your sentence and save the other for the next mix. Break the rule once at most, and only when the repeat means something, like bookending the disc with the same band.

Hidden-meaning picks

The best mixtapes have songs that work on two levels: a good track to anyone, and a message to the one person it’s for. A title that says what you haven’t said out loud. The song from the wedding where you met. A lyric that quotes something they once said. Two or three of these are enough; a whole disc of them reads like a puzzle.

What order should songs go in on a mixtape?

A mixtape should open with a mid-tempo or upbeat song that makes its case in 30 seconds, move in waves of energy, and close on the song that matters most.

The opener

Track 1 has about 30 seconds to make the case. Choose something mid-tempo or upbeat with a strong intro, a song that tells the listener what kind of mix this is. Avoid a long slow build or your heaviest ballad.

The closer

The last song is what they’ll remember. Give it to the song that sums up your sentence, the one you’d choose if the mix could only have one track. Songs that fade out or end quietly make good closers because they leave space after the music stops.

Pace the energy in waves

A mix that climbs in a straight line wears people out, and one that stays at one level blurs together. Think in runs of three or four songs: lift the energy through the first third, ease into slower songs in the middle, build a second peak, then bring it down for the closer. Put your quietest songs after a loud run, where they feel like a breath, rather than back to back.

Transitions: tempo, key and mood

Play the last 15 seconds of each song and the first 15 of the next. If the handoff makes you wince, something is off:

• Tempo. A big jump in speed reads as a jolt. Use it once on purpose; if it happens every other track, add a song in between that meets both halfway.
• Key. You don’t need theory for this. Songs in related keys sound like they belong together, and a clash is obvious when you listen to the join. Swap the order of two songs and listen again.
• Mood. A breakup song right after a wedding song is a whiplash. Group songs that share a feeling and change the mood between runs.

How many songs fit on a mixtape CD?

A mixtape CD fits 18 to 22 songs of three and a half to four minutes, because a standard CD-R holds 80 minutes of audio. We fill every disc to under 79 minutes, because burners and car players handle a disc filled to the very edge less gracefully. Our guide to how many songs fit on a CD has the full table by song length.

To check your total, paste your song list into the playlist length calculator. It adds up the running time, includes the gaps, and tells you if the mix needs a second disc.

If you’re over, cut filler first, then any second song by one artist, then long album versions that have a shorter single edit. If you still can’t cut it, make it a two-disc mix. Two CDs give you 160 minutes and a natural side A and side B.

Should a mixtape be clean or explicit?

A mixtape should be all clean or all explicit, decided before you start; mixing them up is the most common problem we see with mixtape orders. Many songs exist in two versions, and it’s easy to end up with a mix that switches between them, or to give an explicit disc to someone who plays it with their kids in the car.

• Choose clean if the disc might play around children, grandparents, coworkers or a classroom, or if you simply don’t know.
• Choose explicit if the recipient listens to album versions anyway and the edits would sound wrong to them.
• Don’t mix the two. A bleeped radio edit next to an uncensored album track makes both stand out.

Make the call before you buy any tracks, because clean and explicit versions are often sold as separate downloads. If someone else is burning the disc for you, tell them which version you want in writing.

Name, cover, tracklist and note

A finished mixtape has a short name that fits on the spine, a printed cover, a numbered tracklist and a handwritten note about a few of the songs.

Name it

A name turns a disc of songs into a thing with an identity. Keep it short enough to fit on a spine, and make it personal: an inside joke, a place, a line from the note you’ll write. We wrote 150 mixtape name ideas by occasion, plus formulas for writing your own.

The cover and tracklist

The tracklist is the part people reread. Number every song, give the artist, and print it so it fits the case.

• For a jewel case, our CD case template prints a front insert and a back tray card with your tracklist at the right size.
• For a paper sleeve, the CD sleeve template prints a sleeve you cut and fold.
• For the front, design a square cover in the CD cover maker, or use a photo of the two of you.

Liner notes, or a handwritten note

The note is where a mixtape becomes a letter. You don’t need to explain every track. Pick three or four songs and write a line about why each one is there: where you heard it, what it reminds you of, what you want them to notice. Handwritten beats printed. Tuck it in the case or write it on the back of the tracklist.

How do you burn a mixtape CD?

Burn a mixtape CD as an audio CD, not an MP3 or data disc. An audio CD plays in every car stereo and CD player, and you can’t know which one your gift will end up in. Our step-by-step guide to how to burn a CD covers Mac, Windows and computers with no disc drive.

One catch: songs downloaded from Spotify, an Apple Music subscription or Amazon Music Unlimited are DRM-protected and can’t be burned. To make your own mixtape CD, buy the tracks (iTunes Store, Amazon’s digital music store, Bandcamp, Qobuz) or use songs ripped from CDs you own. Our page on burning a Spotify playlist to CD explains the options.

After burning, play the disc all the way through on a different player from the one you burned it on. A skip or a missing track is much better found now than on their birthday.

Built the perfect playlist but have no burner, or no time? Send us the playlist and we’ll make it into a custom CD mixtape with a printed tracklist, test-play it and post it to you.

How do you make a cassette mixtape?

A cassette mixtape needs a deck that records, a blank cassette and a music source connected by cable, and the recording happens in real time. Picking and ordering songs follow the same rules as a CD.

What you need:

• A deck that records. Many portable cassette players only play. Look for a record button and a line-in or microphone input.
• A blank cassette. A C60 holds 30 minutes a side and a C90 holds 45 minutes a side. Normal (Type I) tape is the easiest to find new.
• A source and a cable. A phone, computer or CD player connected to the deck’s input, usually with a 3.5 mm-to-RCA cable.

How to record it:

1. Time each side first. On a C90, side A’s songs plus gaps must fit in 45 minutes, or the last song gets cut off mid-chorus.
2. Wind the tape past the clear leader at the start, since the leader can’t hold sound.
3. Set the recording level on the loudest song. Peaks should touch the top of the meter without sitting in the red.
4. Press record, then play each song from the source. Use the deck’s pause to leave a clean 2 to 3 second gap between tracks.
5. Flip the tape and record side B. When you’re done, break out the two small tabs on the edge opposite the exposed tape, so nobody can record over it by accident.