I've had some people ask me how I choose and limit myself on songs for my characters' playlists, so here is the format for how I do it! In the areas where I mention choosing more than one song for the same section, try to be selective, because you could end up extending the playlist too far and end up back at square one. This format is intended for songs with lyrics, but if you find an instrumental song more fitting to add to this, by all means! Please credit me if you use this format or are inspired by it in any way:

Overall character theme song (I tend to avoid songs that overly rely on relationships with other people because this is supposed to focus on the character as a person)

Religious song (if applicable; this doesn't necessarily have to be about religion. It can also be about the character's experience with religion, even if they don't have one):

Parental/Family Relationship song (this can be more than one song if the character has a different relationship with each parent or if they consider various people to be their parents):

Sibling song (if applicable; this can be about foster/adoptive siblings or biological siblings. This can also be more than one song if you want to specify different platonic/sibling relationships with different characters):

Platonic/friendship song (if applicable; this can be more than one song as well, if you want to specify different platonic relationships and/or friendships with different characters. If the character has no friends or solid platonic relationships, you can choose a song about loneliness):

Romantic song (if applicable. There could be more than one if the character has more than one love interest, but I limit the love interest to having one song to represent the whole relationship. It can be a love song, a breakup song, or even an unrequited love song. Love is complicated):

Enemy song (if applicable; this can be about the character's rivalry with one character or multiple characters, or just their attitude to enemies as a whole. This can be split into more than one song if needed):

The rest of the songs vary. I usually focus on the character's emotions, things that they've been through, or their beliefs, and I choose songs that fit them that way. At this point, you probably have about six to eight songs, so you have room for around four more, if you wanna limit it. I suggest you do because it makes the playlist more personal and specific to the character.

Have fun!