I never delete playlists, nor should you
Tidying up your streaming music library seems like a good idea, but deleting your playlists can lead to regrets and missed opportunities later. There are several reasons why you should keep them – even if you haven’t listened to your playlist in a while.
1 Nostalgia
Sounds and smells can take us back to a time we fondly remember. Even if I don’t listen to a particular playlist anymore, I like to go back sometimes to see how I felt at certain points in my life. For example, I have a playlist from a previous trip to New York, and when I listen to it, I remember vivid details.
I also played FIFA (now known as eFootball) in my youth, and some of the earlier titles – like FIFA 06 – have soundtracks that take me back to the happy days. You might want to delete playlists that remind you of bad times or a person you’d rather forget, but mostly they’re great to keep for nostalgic purposes.
2 Rediscovering past songs
Sometimes I’ll go to playlists to listen to old songs, but sometimes I’ll forget songs I used to love. So when I go through my old playlists, it’s nice to know that I could potentially rediscover some amazing songs and artists.
If I don’t know the name of a song, sometimes a link to old playlists can help. And if not, I can always try to identify songs by melody using music recognition apps.
3 Maybe you’ll start liking a genre again
My musical tastes can be described as diverse to say the least. I will happily listen to almost anything and always have been. Sometimes I obsess over a certain genre for a while before moving on to something else – for example, I particularly loved French and Dutch hip-hop between 2017 and 2019.
Even though I don’t listen to these genres as much as I used to, deleting playlists would be pointless. I still like easy access to my songs and sometimes I go through phases where I’ll heavily listen to those genres again. Deleting my playlists would be unnecessary extra work.
4 I almost always regret deleting playlists
I can’t remember a single occasion when I deleted a playlist and then thought, “That was a good idea”. Most of the time I just needed to go through and trim things a bit. Sometimes you can recover lost or deleted Spotify playlists, but only for a certain period. The same goes for most other music streaming apps.
If you don’t refresh your playlist in the designated time frame for the selected app, it’s very frustrating to start from scratch. In my opinion, it’s much smarter to move the playlists further into the library and reference them when needed.
5 You can discover new songs on the background of old favorites
Rediscovering old favorites is one thing, but one of the underappreciated benefits of not deleting playlists is making it easier to find new songs. You can use the recommended option at the bottom of the playlists to find, for example, similar songs that you’re likely to like.
It’s also possible that some of the artists in your playlists have released new albums and songs since you last listened to them. So you’ll also have the chance to expand your playlist with new favourites. Use it together with apps that help you find new music for a better experience.
6 You won’t have to rebuild the old libraries
I occasionally switch music streaming services, but my decision isn’t always forever. For example, I left Spotify for Apple Music in 2024, but then came back; I did the same in 2016. Both times I’m glad I kept my old playlists.
Rebuilding your old libraries is time consuming and let’s be honest – most of us have better things to do. If possible, it’s a good idea to archive or export playlists. For example, you can use Apple Music Playlist Transfer to migrate from Apple Music to YouTube Music.
There are several alternatives to deleting playlists and I strongly recommend that you explore them before you decide to delete anything. The only time I suggest deleting old playlists is if there are negative memories associated with them, such as an ex-partner. Otherwise, you’ll probably want to access them again at some point.