Apple Music’s new Set List playlists might just split the crowd

Make no mistake about it – there is nothing quite like seeing your favorite band or artist live. Part of that could be it being your first show, or it might be your first chance to hear cuts off their latest album – or, if you’re like me, to hear the chance to belt out Born to Run with 50,000 others.

Either way, Apple wants to replicate that experience a bit, albeit in terms of the setlist. Apple Music now has a new tool for musicians and bands to let them create playlists of their setlists and show them off in the app.

Simply put, the next big thing in pop, a folk artist, or country singer, among other genre types, can turn a set list into a playlist available in Apple Music. It’s giving a bit of the power back to the artists. Still, you might see Apple Music’s editorial team creating playlists themed around anything, including recent tour stops – I remember this appearing for the Jonas Brothers.

In a shared guide titled ‘Promote your shows with Set Lists’ on the Apple Music for Artists site, Apple suggests connecting your Apple Music Artists account with concert-info website Bandsintown so that it can automatically sync upcoming show dates. When creating a playlist, you can choose a new setlist option and even specify the type of show – part of a tour, residency, or one-off concert. After this, you can link it to an event with Bandsintown, as it will pull in that list, or if you haven’t connected, you can manually enter a date – but it must be “a date that is no earlier than one day in the future.”