Rethinking the Digital Playlist: Mixtapes, Nostalgia and Emotionally Durable Design

Abstract

This chapter compares the experience of creating and listening to digital playlists with the experience of making and sharing mixtapes. Grounded in theories of nostalgia and emotionally durable design, the chapter offers a unique perspective on music listening habits, and argues that nostalgic accounts and contemporary references to the mixtape can enhance our understanding of digital music listening and contemporary listening practices. Through a theoretical and critical exploration of the affordances and limitations of digital music platforms in relation to the mixtape, the chapter provides a provocation to the music industry (and to those studying popular music practices and music consumption) to consider the importance of the listening experience, arguing that it should be thought of as creative, haptic, performative, immersive and embodied.