A Holiday Playlist Everyone In Your Family Will Love

Holiday celebrations are stressful. Deciding what to do, what to eat, when to eat, when to sleep, what movie to watch – all while respecting each other’s needs and advocating for your own – is difficult. Most of the time, my sister and my father are the only two other people at my family holiday celebrations and yet the three of us still struggle to agree on anything besides, of course, how much we love each other.

When it comes to music, my sister and my father have wildly different tastes.

My father always plays the same list: a little bit of Eric Clapton, Sheryl Crow, Stevie Wonder, Fleetwood Mac. There’s even some Jimmy Buffet on there (no joke, one year I took my first bite of turkey as “Cheeseburger in Paradise” crooned on the speakers).

My sister, a professional salsa dancer, likes Latin music (go figure). She also likes pop, and some softer, mildly electronic things I’ve played for her over the years.

There’s not a lot of overlap.

I am somewhere in the middle of my father and sister’s crossing music tastes. I have Etta James, Meghan Trainor, and Noname saved to my Spotify list. I love Hall & Oates but I also can’t resist a little bit of Bruno Mars.

One Christmas Eve, music was a particularly sore subject as we sat and visited in the living room. My sister, fingers pressed against her temples, asked for a break from the usual tunes and suggested some Christmas-themed salsa music. Bobby Rodriguez’s “A Latin Jazz Christmas” only lasted 20 minutes before my father said, “I can’t take this anymore.” Since we couldn’t agree on anything that we would all equally enjoy, we decided it was best to sit in silence instead. It was during those tense, awkward moments that I knew: We needed a holiday playlist everyone in the family would love.

The following year, before either my sister or father could start playing their music through the living room speakers, I put on the playlist I created. Song after song, I saw smiles on their faces instead of cringes and eye rolls. My father even started bobbing his head, cocked it to the side, and asked, “Who’s this?” multiple times.

Below is my holiday playlist and instructions for creating your own.

Hit shuffle and enjoy!

How to Create a Holiday Playlist Everyone in Your Family Will Love

Understand and respect the variety of musical tastes and preferences in your family. It’s OK if your father doesn’t like trap, and it’s OK if your sister cringes every time she hears a harmonica. Be aware of what people groove to and what they hate. If you don’t know, ask.
Identify where musical tastes overlap and find artists that cross musical genres and generations. I’ve found success with Chance the Rapper, who combines his velvety voice and thoughtful rap lyrics with string and percussion instruments. The band Sylvan Esso has also been a crowd-pleaser. Their songs are soothing and enchanting, like watching falling snow, yet still fresh and vibrant. There’s a newness to their music, a gentle reminder that progress can mean positive things too.
Throw in some classics. Remember your early music tastes are formed with the help of your family, so you can’t go wrong adding in tunes your parents played over and over again in the car when you were a kid. I have Aretha Franklin on my list because she’s an established family favorite. The Mamas and the Papas because our parents played their songs over and over again in the car.
Add specific songs you know someone in your family loves. Justin Bieber on my list as a subtle nod to my sister’s affinity for pop. For my dad, I added some songs from Bob Dylan’s “Blood on the Tracks” album.
Don’t forget to throw in a few of your favorite bops too! With all the effort you’ve put in to make your family happy, don’t forget to look out for you and your best interests too.

Remember, if you have a good mixture, everyone in your family will find at least one thing they enjoy. The goal is to make everyone feel like their tastes are being recognized and respected. At the end of the day, isn’t that all we want from our family?