NPR Music Playlists Spotify playlists curated by the NPR Music staff.

NPR Music Playlists

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New Music Friday

Your weekly guide to prominent new albums and exciting singles.

Italian pianist Maurizio Pollini, a titan among his peers, photographed in 1982. He died March 23 at age 82. Erich Auerbach/Getty Images hide caption

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NPR Classical

Need a deep discovery experience? Try 1000 years of music. Our mantra: Bach, Beethoven, before and beyond.

Comic book artist Daniel Warren Johnson (Murder Falcon, Extremity) illustrates the music of Viking's Choice. Horns up! Daniel Warren Johnson hide caption

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Viking's Choice

Where heavy metal, heady psych, dreamy ambient, furious punk and cotton-candy pop music all come to freak out. Curated by Lars Gotrich.

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The Alt.Latino Playlist

From your parents' favorite boleros reimagined to cumbia-punk, trapchata and the most PG-13 pop, Alt.Latino's got you you covered.

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Bob Boilen's Playlist

What the creator of NPR Music's All Songs Considered and Tiny Desk concerts is listening to right now.

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All Rap is Local: The Playlist

As it celebrates its 50th birthday, hip-hop is a global phenomenon. But to map the music's true impact, you have to look closer.

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Alt.Latino's Espooky Szn

The leaves are changing colors, miniature candies are lining the walls of drug stores and tías y tíos are warning about the demonic roots of Halloween. Finally, Espooky season has arrived.

"New Beyoncé is literally good for everybody in the world," Maggie Rogers says of Renaissance, which shares a release date with her own Surrender. "I'm so excited for this record." Olivia Bee/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

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Maggie Rogers' summer mixtape sweats with sweetness

Filled with pop mosaics, Surrender feels like a quintessentially summer album. Naturally, we asked Maggie Rogers for a roséwave playlist.

Roséwave is light and breezy, but not necessarily unsophisticated — the sound of an experience kissed by sweet summer heat. Vanessa Leroy/NPR hide caption

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110 songs for your summer getaway

Hit play and vibe all day. Roséwave is a lifestyle, not a genre, based around summer feels. To kick things off, here's a seven-hour soundtrack for your getaway or staycation.

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Songs to believe in: A Juneteenth playlist

This Juneteenth, pianist Lara Downes remembers the freedom that has been hard fought and hard won.

Songs to believe in: A Juneteenth playlist

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Black Voices in American Music: The Playlist

Some of the first truly American music was created by Black voices. In this playlist, pianist Lara Downes offers a broad range of songs that speak to the irrepressible, irresistible sound of hope.

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A holly jolly Jazz Night: Our favorite holiday tunes

'Tis the season for spending time with the ones we love. Here's a collection of the Jazz Night team's favorite holiday music, including timeless classics and a few brand-new bops.

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Viking's Choice Holiday Special

Bubbly pop songs sidle up to filthy headbangers and dreamy ambient in a six-hour playlist of unexpected holiday music.

San Jose de Gracia, Mexico — July 30, 2021: San Jose de Gracia is nestled in the middle of the Pacific coast of Baja California, Mexico. The community claims that it was founded 200 years ago but today only 12 members are living there. While water first brought the settlement, the rainy season has shifted. This left the community without a waterfall going into the canyon. Sofia Aldinio hide caption

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Songs and Pictures For Climate Change: A Playlist for the Planet

As the 2021 U.N. Climate Change Summit winds down, NPR's Picture Show looks at work by photographers that highlight climate change.