The Streaming Secret To Making Movies And Shows More Immersive

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 24 seconds ago

A few years ago, I caved in and became a Spotify junkie. Once I realized I could jam tunes while badly playing hero shooters like Overwatch and Marvel Rivals, it was so Joever. While the ability to play the newest albums was cool, what really drew me to the streaming service was the playlists. Not the soulless, AI-generated lists they use now, but the ones carefully curated by human beings. Being just a click away from so many perfectly customized musical journeys held a major appeal for me, a guy from the original mixtape generation. What really stoked my Spotify addiction, though, was the discovery of public playlists from my favorite creators.

These playlists often took on many different forms. Some of them were simply a big list of music that a creator jammed out to while writing a comic, movie, or episode. My favorite thing, though, is when they release character-centric playlists to the public. For example, have you ever wondered what Clark Kent and Lois Lane like to listen to when they’re racing a deadline? James Gunn has you covered. Over the years, listening to these kinds of playlists has become my favorite way to immerse myself in my entertainment like never before. So, at the risk of sounding like a shill (seriously, y’all have no idea how quickly I’d sell out), here’s my guide to the best immersive playlists on Spotify.

From Lit Hits To Crit Hits

Unsurprisingly, perhaps, nobody embraced Spotify playlists like professional authors. It takes many long hours to bring our favorite stories to life, and they spend much of that time jamming out to their favorite tunes. Curious fans will be happy to learn that some of their favorite authors have released playlists online, revealing exactly which songs helped them craft their latest tale.

One of the biggest authors to do so is horror legend Stephen King. He collaborated with Far Out Magazine to release an official playlist of his favorite music on Spotify. It’s impressively eclectic, including songs from AC/DC, Sam Cooke, Shawn Mullins, and many more. According to the magazine, the maestro of the macabre declared this his “ultimate playlist,” so listening to it is a great way to get inside King’s head. If you want to go beyond the author’s official playlist, you’ll also find plenty of user-generated lists featuring music explicitly referenced in his books, allowing you to create the most immersive possible reading.

A more recent author to embrace Spotify is Matt Dinniman, writer of the hit Dungeon Crawler Carl books. He has several playlists that are more personal in nature, including Day Songs, Night Songs, and compilations of favorite metal songs and favorite instrumental songs. What fans of his LitRPG will be most interested in is the official playlist he made for the first Dungeon Crawler Carl book. While he sadly didn’t release playlists for subsequent books, he did give fans the next best thing. In the DCC books, there are alarm traps that blare popular Earth music whenever they are tripped. Dinniman has released an official playlist compiling all of these songs, immersing fans in his hit books while redefining (ahem) “trap music.”

You’re Listening To Evil Ex Radio

It’s an open secret that music is near and dear to Scott Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O’Malley. Always a trendsetter, he was doing the Spotify playlist trend well before Spotify was even a thing. In the original Scott Pilgrim comic book volumes, O’Malley often included details about the songs he had been listening to while writing and drawing his indie masterpiece. Eventually, he took to Spotify and compiled all of these songs and more into a playlist playfully labeled “Scott Pilgrim 64.” This banger of a list includes songs from Plumtree (who inspired Scott Pilgrim’s name), Metric (whom Brie Larson memorably covers in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World), and Millennial staples like David Bowie and Tom Petty.

Those who like Scott Pilgrim often like gaming. If that includes tabletop games, you might enjoy the fact that the ultimate Dungeons & Dragons podcast, Critical Role, has multiple official playlists on Spotify. Are you a fan who would like to better understand what makes your favorite characters tick? The podcast has numerous official playlists for characters, campaigns, and DMs. All of this is awesome if you want to learn more about your favorite heroes, roll your own character, or get in the right mindset to create your own sprawling campaign.

Flying Up That Hill

While it had a killer, synth-heavy opening theme, Stranger Things didn’t start out as a series known for its killer music or epic needle drops. That changed around Season 3, when we all jammed out to Dustin’s hilariously bad rendition of “The NeverEnding Story.”  The next season upped the ante with Sadie Sink’s character escaping the Upside Down while listening to Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill.” Given how popular that moment became, it may not surprise you to learn that Stranger Things has a number of official playlists on Spotify, each one detailing what specific characters like to listen to when they aren’t running from Demogorgons or saving the world from Vecna.

Arguably, nobody in this article likes music quite as much as James Gunn, the director who made sweet needle drops a staple of his Guardians of the Galaxy films. He ensured that Superman was similarly musical, including the Teddybears song “Punk Rocker” as a callback to Lois declaring herself as “punk rock.” If you want to know what else she listens to, you’re in luck: he’s uploaded official character playlists for Lois, Clark, Lex, and plenty of other characters. If you’re a Gunn superfan, be sure to check out his other playlists, which include everything from his favorite wedding day songs to various GOTG-style mixtapes. Also, be sure to check out his Wrapped playlist to see just how quirky the man running the DCU really is!