"Uptown got its hustlers, the Bowery got its bums. Forty-second Street got big Jim Walker, he a pool-shootin' son of a gun". Jim Croce sang those words in 1972, six years before I was born. They've been burned into my memory for so long that I can't remember when I first heard them.

Every time I have a party, I spend an hour building a playlist, imagining my guests all gasping and dancing and reaching for Shazam. Instead they ignore the music until someone takes over the Bluetooth speaker. So I asked for help from university student Tj Jones, who had a viral tweet this February when he shared the 11 playlists he used to categorise all his Uber and Lyft passengers, such as "quiet ppl" and "white dudes who look like they like rap".

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."

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.

Some people can dig up great music like magic, or have friends inside the industry who keep them updated. Some people are contented with their weekly Spotify Discover playlist. But if you need more ways to find music, here are 50 ideas, taken from Twitter users, my colleagues at Lifehacker's publisher Gizmodo Media Group, and some of my own habits. Some are obvious, some bizarre, some embarrassing, but they have all helped people find their new favourite song, or even their favourite band.

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.

Spotify, a service for turning your music listening habits into public content, analysed thousands of user playlists themed on love, sex, heartache or hating Valentine's Day, and made four Top 10 playlists of the most commonly featured songs.

If you're having some trouble getting your ideas down on paper, this playlist from the multi-talented Lin-Manuel Miranda of Hamilton fame will help get those creative juices flowing.

Web: Lots of music services have playlists based on how you're feeling right now, but Vibesmood tries to make it as simple as possible. Click one of five vibes to match your mood, and pick a playlist that looks good to get something that will lift you up, comfort you or help you get stuff done.

It's not a party without music. Whether you're hosting a birthday bash, an upscale cocktail affair or a chill holiday party, you're going to need some tunes. These playlist building tips will make sure your shindig is a fun, memorable event.

Android: Noon Pacific is one of our favourite music services. Every week you get fresh, new music in a curated playlist delivered right to your phone or mailbox. Its Android app just got a huge update too, one that's worth a look.

Sometimes, you might want to create a big collaborative playlist of YouTube videos without it being tied to your Google account. Digital Inspiration shows off how to do this using a Google Spreadsheet.

Over the past couple of years, Spotify has introduced its Discover Weekly playlist that aims to find new music and its Release Radar playlist that seeks out new albums from your favourite artists. Today, it's mashing up the two ideas with a Daily Mix that combines artists you've listened to with new stuff.

If you need some help putting together your ultimate workout playlist, these are the songs most Spotify users like to sweat it out to.

If you have a hard time differentiating your pop Christmas tunes from you shimmer psych jams, you're in luck. This scatter graph will help you get a grip on pretty much any genre of music, including some you've likely never heard of.

iOS: Flo Music on iOS lets you sync up nearby phones so that you can craft the perfect party playlist in real time using songs from your Spotify, SoundCloud or iTunes music library.

Android/iOS: Your favourite tunes are probably spread out on multiple services, but Qus brings them all together and lets you mix and match for killer playlists. We've talked about a few similar services before, but Qus supports more sources and puts them all on your phone for on-the-go listening.