Music is a daily part of our lives, from calm morning music, instructive music, and music that puts a little pep in our step! Here are my go-to music playlists, as well as my favorite recommendations for listening to music throughout the day.
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Music is so incredibly powerful at creating atmospheres, recalling memories, lifting moods, and even instructing the mind! Which is why music has been part of my daily life since I got my first Walkman, alternately listening to Stephen Curtis Chapman or the dubbed tape of songs I recorded off the radio.
Nowadays, I’m still constantly listening to something and I have playlists for just about everything. I listen to my Morning Glory playlist in the early, quiet morning hours when we all just want something calm to start our day. I have a variety of during the day playlists, based on whatever activity we are up to. And I often listen to more upbeat playlists or Pandora stations in the evening when it’s time to make dinner or straighten up the house and we need a little energy boost.
I won’t go into all the ins and outs of how people choose what kinds of music they listen to. Some of my playlists are explicitly Christian and others are not. Everyone holds their own personal convictions and can decide as they feel best. That said, I hope that you find some new music you love in my playlists, and I hope that having these playlists ready to go in both Amazon and Spotify is helpful.
After I share my playlists, I’m also sharing our favorite ways to listen to music. They’re easy to use and worth the small investment. Then, finally, I’m wrapping up this post with a comparison of some of the most popular music streaming services.
As always, I’d love to hear from you! Share what you think of these playlists, your favorite music, or your favorite ways to listen in the comments.
The Playlists
- Morning Glory || (Spotify) || Songs that are calm and quiet enough to be palatable in the still morning hours. A mix of spiritual songs, hymns, and psalms.
- Grace & Peace || (Spotify) || A mix of Christian singer/songwriters with heaps of talent for both rich lyrics and beautiful music.
- Kids’ Mix || (Spotify) || Fun and Bible songs written for kids (that aren’t too annoying for adults).
- Mellow || (Spotify) || Chill and folky mainstream music.
- Outdoorsy || (Spotify) || Upbeat, folk, bluegrass, & indie.
- Hymns || (Spotify) || Old hymns to new music.
- Sunday Morning Medley || (Spotify) || A large mix of praise songs, hymns, and other Christian music.
- Fun in the Sun || (Spotify) || A fun, upbeat mix of old and new mainstream music. Perfect for a nostalgic dance party or a happy, sunny day.
- Soul Watering Music || (Spotify) || This is the short playlist I turn to when I need comfort and truth to hug and water my weary heart.
- Hip to the Hop || (Spotify) || Christian rap music that is both fun to listen to and FULL of truth and goodness.
- Bedtime || (Spotify) || Slow, calming lullabies to get the kiddos settled down for bed.
- College || (Spotify) || Personal favorites from college.
- Classical || (Spotify) || Bach, Hadyn, Vivaldi, Beethoven, & Brahms
- Psallos || (Spotify) || Psallos is an amazing group of musicians who take books of the Bible and write songs based on their themes. So far, the albums include Romans, Hebrews, and Jude. Do not listen to these on shuffle!
Sporting my bluetooth headphones at the park, as usual.
How We Listen
We listen to music constantly throughout the day. It helps to set the mood to whatever we are doing, it is instructive, and energizes or calms us in turns.
Years ago, we started with Pandora, then made the switch to Spotify, and now have settled happily into using Amazon Music for all of our music storage and streaming. The selection is excellent and the app and browser are easy to use. Initially we started with the free service available to Prime members, but upgraded to Music Unlimited over a year ago.
The free service is an excellent way to start and learn Amazon’s music service. Then, if you want to expand your selection, you can make the switch from 2 million free songs to 50 million available songs for just 7.99 a month!
Keep reading to the end of the post to see a comparison between some of the most popular streaming services.
If you watch my Instagram stories, you have undoubtedly seen my headphones hanging around my neck. I wear them everyday, though not always all day, because they make it so easy and convenient for me to edit my stories, listen to podcasts and music, and watch YouTube videos and Instagram stories while I wash dishes.
I have since heard from many others who have bought these headphones on my recommendation and loved the freedom they give to listen to books and such while going about their days!
We received two Echo Dots as Christmas presents this year. They were on my wishlist for a long time to make it easier to listen to music and audiobooks at home, and after using them for a couple months now…
I LOVE THEM!!
Seriously, I love how easy it is to ask for a book to be played while we eat lunch, to tell Alexa to start streaming one of the playlists above, or simply ask for specific songs to be played.
My husband and I also play ping pong almost everyday at our dining room table, and it has been such a fun way to connect with each other a couple times a day. We listen to different styles of music every night and have a great time. It’s as easy as asking “Alexa, play the Rolling Stones” or “Alexa, shuffle 80’s greatest hits”.
One of our Echo Dots stays permanently in the kitchen, which is open to the living areas, making it the perfect place from which to stream music. The second Echo Dot can be taken to kids’ bedrooms to play books while they build legos or clean, or taken to the basement to play music while they get some energy out.
Before we had the Echo Dots, I used a portable speaker to play music and books. This was okay, but I didn’t love that I couldn’t use my phone to do anything else while I was streaming.
Now that we have the Dots, my speaker is primarily used in the car, on picnics, or whenever else we might want an easy way to listen to books/music together.
Amazon, Spotify, or Pandora?
When I did a quick poll on Instagram, the results were neck and neck between Amazon Music and Spotify, with a few people saying they only use Pandora.
Here is a brief comparison of the services. (This is both anecdotal and from a few quick searches online. If you disagree or have additional insights, please leave them in the comments!)
Cost:
- Amazon Music without a Prime membership: FREE, with ads.
- Amazon Music with a Prime membership: FREE, no ads.
- Amazon Music Unlimited: $7.99/month (free 30-day trial)
- Spotify: FREE service, with ads
- Spotify Premium: $9.99/month, no ads
- Pandora Radio: FREE service, with ads
- Pandora Plus: $4.99/month, no ads
- Pandora Premium: $9.99/month, no ads
Selection:
- Amazon Music with a Prime membership: 2 million songs
- Amazon Music Unlimited: 50 million songs
- Spotify:
- Spotify Premium: 50+ million songs
- Pandora:
- Pandora Plus:
- Pandora Premium:
Perks:
- Amazon Music with a Prime membership: unlimited skip, & offline listening; make & share playlists; radio stations; works well with Alexa
- Amazon Music Unlimited: unlimited skip, & offline listening; make & share playlists; radio stations; works well with Alexa
- Spotify:
- Spotify Premium: offline listening; make & share playlists
- Pandora: playlists curated for you based on one song/artist/genre; great for discovering new music
- Pandora Plus: unlimited skip, & offline listening
- Pandora Premium: unlimited skip, & offline listening; make & share playlists
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Thank you for a wonderful post! Always looking for new amazon playlists. This was wonderfully organized.
Remembered your post about tabletop ping pong and – searching for things to keep our family busy during this season – I found it on your blog! Ordered a set through Amazon – I hope you get some sort of credit because the inspiration was all yours. Hoping this helps us stay sane and have a little family fun. We have 3 generations under one roof – us, the grandparents, our daughter and son-in-law, and our two grandsons, ages 8 and 21 months. This could be just what we were looking for – can’t believe it’s under $20!
Thank you for the podcasts! They’re great, and I know it took a lot of time!