Spotify Playlists To Fuel Your Coding And Design Sessions

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• Inspiration, Community, Workflow
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Cosima has been an editor at SmashingMag since 2013. Whenever she’s not writing articles for the weekly Smashing Newsletter, she’s probably working on a … More about Cosima ↬

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Some like it loud, others need some steady beats to stay focused, others calm tunes. A while ago we asked on Twitter and Facebook what music the web community is listening to when coding and designing.

The answers were as diverse as the community itself and certainly too good to live an existence only in a Twitter discussion. That’s why we’ve compiled those hand-crafted spotify playlists, favorite artists, and loved soundtracks in this article to see which tunes fuel the web.

And, well, first and foremost, to provide you with some new ear candy to get you through lengthy coding and design sessions, of course. Get your headphones ready!

Get Into The Flow

Positive psychology describes flow as the mental state when you get fully immersed in what you’re doing, feeling energized, focused, and involved. These playlists will tickle your brain to help you reach that much sought-after state.

Design Vibes

Curated by Sherzod Max | 564 songs | 58h 37min | Listen on Spotify

No words to distract you, only steady vibes.

Hardstyle Playlist

Curated by Jesse Stoots | 755 songs | 56h 56min | Listen on Spotify

Q-Base, Defqon, and Qlimax. Beats that help you get into the flow.

Soundtrack To The Film Blade Runner

Artist: Vangelis | 12 songs | 57min | Listen on Spotify

Classical compositions meet synthesizers. Melodic.

Soundtrack To The Film Drive

Curated by Servaas Vehmeijer | 31 songs | 2h 30min | Listen on Spotify

A small but fine list. Get into the flow with some electronic beats, work your way through and get to the epic, musical-like finale.

Design & Build

Curated by Manik Rathee | 225 songs | 16h 06min | Listen on Spotify

This one won’t get boring. Sometimes full of energy, sometimes calm.

Coding And Crushing It

Curated by Noel Tock | 127 songs | 8h 38min | Listen on Spotify

Orchestra meets film music.

Soundtrack To The Film TRON: Legacy

Artist: Daft Punk | 22 songs | 58min | Listen on Spotify

A mix of electronic music and 70s-inspired sci-fi sounds.

Soundtrack To The Film The Big Short

Artist: Nicholas Britell | 23 songs | 38min | Listen on Spotify

A surprising mix — sometimes energetic and upbeat with a bit of 70’s funk, sometimes darker and moody.

Hyperspatial Detours

Artist: Café Del Mar | 7 songs | 21min | Listen on Spotify

Chillout music from the famous Café Del Mar.

Stay Focused

Staying focused over a long period of time can be hard. The following playlists cater for some background music without being too obtrusive.

Futurebeats

Curated by Kyle Hovey | 2,908 songs | 207h 11min | Listen on Spotify

Experimental and electronic beat music.

Bring Me To Sleep

Curated by Quoc Nguyen | 10 songs | 31min | Listen on Soundcloud

Well, it shouldn’t bring you to sleep, but sometimes peaceful sounds from piano, violins, and guitar might be just what you need.

Soundtrack For Study

Curated by Filtr Canada | 76 songs | 3h 36min | Listen on Spotify

Movie hits to help you focus and concentrate.

Soundtrack To The Film Interstellar

Artist: Hans Zimmer | 16 songs | 1h 11min | Listen on Spotify

Stress-Free Classicals

Curated by Can Artuc | 49 songs | 3h 36min | Listen on Spotify

Classic, calm piano and orchestra pieces. Satie, Händel, Chopin, Schubert, and more.

Boost Your Energy

The day has already been long and you need a little energy booster? How about one of these?

Liquid Drum & Bass

Curated by Björn Zuithoff | 8,959 songs | 847h 52min | Listen on Spotify

A huge Liquid Drum & Bass playlist to keep you fueled with energy.

Coding & Designing 0.3

Curated by Ross Dalaire | 27 songs | 1h 59min | Listen on Spotify

Electronic beats to push you forward. If you like the playlist, also make sure to check out Coding & Designing 0.2 and Coding & Designing 0.1.

Soundtrack To The Film Pacific Rim

Artist: Ramin Djawadi | 26 songs | 1h 1min | Listen on Spotify

You’re on a quest to conquer this weird browser bug? This is your march music.

Punk Essentials

Curated by Spotify France | 77 songs | 4h 03min | Listen on Spotify

The best of punk rock.

Starred

Curated by Julian Norton | 29 songs | 1h 58min | Listen on Spotify

A good mix to re-load your battery.

Kesä2016

Curated by Annukka Leppänen | 43 songs | 2h 26min | Listen on Spotify

“Kesä” means summer in Finish, and this playlist certainly brings you in a good mood with dancehall, hip hop, and reggae.

What do you usually listen to when doing coding and design work? Let us know in the comments below!

Further Reading

• How To Increase Workflow And Reduce Stress With Nature Sounds
• You Are Not A Machine. You Are Not Alone.
• Feeling Stuck? Design What You Don’t Know
• Breaking Out Of The Box: Design Inspiration

(mrn)