Eight years ago, musician Nick Pittsinger made Justin Bieber's "U Smile" sound like ambient pop band Sigur Rós by slowing it down 800%. Bieber haters celebrated this beautiful edit, and ever since then people have been slowing down songs by 800%, 1000%, or more, and uploading them to YouTube and SoundCloud.

The genre's smooth sounds and lack of discernible lyrics makes it great background music for creative work, so we've collected some of the best in a YouTube playlist, "All Music Sounds Good at 1/10 the Speed."

Spotify's top playlists feature way more men than women. Not just in the algorithmic playlists, which reproduce inequalities in the music industry at large, but also in the curated ones, according to a thorough, stat-filled feature article on The Baffler. For example, Spotify's top curated playlist of 2017 was RapCaviar, a rotating 50-track playlist with nine million followers. Over the entire month that The Baffler tracked, it included one woman-led song. One.

In the Pomodoro Technique for productivity, you work for 25 minutes, take a 5-minute break, and repeat. (After two hours, you take a longer break.) You can use a kitchen timer, your phone, or a specialised app.

In the Popodoro technique, instead of a timer, you use music - like the new Spotify playlist from Popjustice.

We asked Lifehacker readers to share their pump-up songs, the one that gets them ready to crush it like the wild beasts they are, and they delivered.

Ravel's Boléro, the famous repetitive piece that builds to a full-orchestra climax, is the most famous example of a classical form, based on the Latin dance genre of the same name. TV Tropes, a website made entirely of rabbit holes, lists over 50 examples of this particular song structure, and we've collected as many as we can in a Spotify playlist.

The New Yorker ran a story yesterday about the emotional experience of listening to a tinny version of Toto's "Africa" on YouTube. The popular video simulates the sound of hearing the pop song echoing through an empty shopping centre.

Hey what's that song from? Ask MetaFilter commenters named 52 different tunes, mostly classical and big-band, that you'll recognise instantly but might have trouble naming. And we assembled them into a Spotify playlist.

Farewells are never easy. A little hole opens in your heart as you watch your past fly away on a jet plane. Whether you're glad to see it go or will miss the old days, this playlist helps you find the words to say goodbye.

Folk metal is a distinctly unique genre, combining the harsh, aggressive sound of heavy metal with the homespun traditions of folk music. This week's playlist celebrates that fiery fusion.

If you want to earn extra style points this upcoming Valentine's Day, the right soundtrack for the evening can help. You can find a playlist to go along with dinner somewhere else. Here, we have one for what comes after.

Breakup songs are an emotional blend of anger, heartache, optimism and renewal. This week's playlist hits all the nerves with a blend of songs to mend the pain.

Have you guys seen that new trailer for Mass Effect: Andromeda? If you haven't, go check it out. If you have, go watch it again. Then come back and put on this playlist of all of the music from this series.

Alright, so it isn't actually Thursday. But it's never a bad time to remember the rose-tinted days of just a few years ago. This playlist takes you back to the '80s, '90s and '00s.

Tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons or Pathfinder can be incredibly immersive with the right music. This playlist has all the music you'll ever need to paint a picture for your party.

Though Australia is getting further into summer, winter has come in the US where, as the weather gets colder, staying indoors looks even more appealing than it normally does. Even so, you don't have to be cold to appreciate this playlist and chill out to classical music with a wintery theme.

The first ever Star Wars movie without an episode number is finally out, and it's all about that first Death Star. You know, before Death Stars became boring. To commemorate the new movie, have a playlist of Darth Vader's favourite music.

Australia may be headed toward summer, but it's autumn in US. And it's never a bad time for this playlist of acoustic autumn songs.

It's finally December, which means you probably have about 47 holiday parties already lined up. That's a lot to prepare for. Knock the playlist off the to-do list for all of them with this holiday collection.

Without hearing a single note, you can probably hum the Super Mario Brothers or Legend of Zelda theme. Nintendo's games have a rich musical history, and this week's playlist rounds up some of the best renditions.