On the playlist's update cadence

How often a playlist gets updated is part of what it means to listen to it. A playlist that hasn't changed in three years is a different object from one that gets a new track each week, even if they share most of their tracks. The listener feels the difference, vaguely, without being able to say exactly what's changed.

The five rooms here update slowly. A few tracks a month, on average, sometimes none for a stretch. Bigger changes a couple of times a year, when the room itself has shifted enough that the playlist starts to feel slightly off. The updates aren't on a schedule; they're on a feeling, which works because I'm the one listening.

The temptation to update more often is real. Streaming services reward freshness; listeners often want the playlist that 'gets new stuff.' But a playlist updated weekly stops being a room and starts being a feed, and the feed is a different relationship with music — closer to a magazine than to a library.

What I aim for is a playlist that's recognisable a year later but not identical. Most of the spine has stayed; a few of the connective tracks have shifted. The room is the same room; it has been kept clean. That's the cadence I think makes a playlist feel trustworthy to come back to.