Hey, I’m Xavi and although you can read more about me here, let me introduce me briefly before we jump into the story of this project.
It would sound better if I would say that I have always been a big fan of playlists, but that would be a lie. But I have always been into music.
Besides my frustrated dream as a kid (and as a teen, and as an adult… and i oop) of becoming a pop diva, I found another way to channel my obsession: making my life all about music.
I’d attend Sugababes concerts in Habbo Hotel, download tons of music for my iPod, spend hours on pop forums and Twitter reading about music, and secretly dance to Gaga’s Alejandro music video in my room.
As I kept growing, so did my obsession with music. Then Spotify came along, and I was able to expand my musical taste even more. My playlists began to feel like a reflection of me, and they started carrying emotional meaning.
In 2020, a few months into therapy and finally seeing some light after one of the darkest chapters of my life, my therapist gave me a simple but powerful task: to pick songs that captured who I was at that moment.
Right after the session, I opened Spotify and created a playlist with the songs that had been on repeat for months—tracks that resonated deeply with me during that time.
As I put the songs together, I realized I wasn’t just curating a playlist. I was capturing a transition, the shift from where I had been to where I was going.
That hopeful playlist became more than just music; it became the soundtrack of the most important change in my life.
Since I curated that one playlist back in 2020, I’ve curated more than 200 playlists for different moments of my life —with songs that aligned with my emotions, reflected who I am, and helped me make sense of my personal journey and experiences (moving countries, relationships, career crisis, new beginnings…)
I’ve become a strong believer that playlists are a powerful tool to regulate my mood, express myself, and tell the story of who I’m, and who I’m becoming.
The music we choose to listen to isn’t just background noise; it can be part of our healing, our growth, and our everyday life. And our playlists are part of the stories of our lives.
After more than 5 years of practicing playlist curation as a journaling tool, 3 years of media studies focused on researching music and streaming platforms, and a master’s thesis on playlists, I’m starting my new project: Xavi’s Playlist Journal.
I hope to create a safe space where people can get inspired, share their music and stories behind their playlists, and feel connected.
The Playlist Journal is a research-based project aimed at raising awareness about playlists as powerful tool for self-regulation and self-expression and sharing resources to integrate it.
Documenting my experience using playlists as a way of journaling
