Curating music with Rob Khan

As a Music Curator and Editorial Producer of BBC Sounds, Rob Khan is behind a new music phenomenon: The music mix.

Not a radio show yet not quite a playlist, a music mix consists of 16 curated tracks that seamlessly blend together for a sonically immersive experience. Each music mix follows a theme — sometimes it’s straightforward, like “The Happy Hour” and “Behind the Album,” and sometimes it’s a bit more subjective, like “The Cosmic Hour” and Khan’s own “Road Trip Records.” Whatever the theme, he’s curating each of the music mixes with a specific listener in mind.

“Everyone thinks being a curator is about having impeccable taste. It’s never really like that,” Khan said. “It’s like being a chef. You’re making this food for someone else.”

Khan cites two specific instances of when he realized that he wanted to work in the music industry. The first was when he was a preteen volunteering for a project at the Roundhouse, a media education venue turned concert venue in central London. The assignment was to record natural sounds, such as crunching leaves and running water, to make a soundscape. He came back with a sketch of a radio show modeled as if he were in space.

The second instance was when Khan was an intern at Nickelodeon, helping the company’s promotional team by going through video tapes of “Spongebob Squarepants.” He’d listen to a radio station called 1Xtra while at work and realized that picking music for a radio show could be an actual, viable job.

From there, he researched different people who worked at BBC, sending e-mails and asking if he could shadow them. The key was to ask extremely specific questions about the music that the producers would hopefully notice. Eventually, he got in.

“I remember walking into the [BBC] office and there were loads of records piled high. I was like, ‘This is cool. I want to do this,’” he said. “From then on, I thought, ‘How do I follow this path?’”

At BBC, Khan would answer calls for their phone-in program, prepare for shows, book guests, record interviews, burn CDs, and clean music to make sure tracks didn’t have bad language in them. He juggled this gig while getting his university degree, constantly saying “yes” to opportunities and moving his schedule around to pursue his passion. He left BBC in 2015 and did a stint at Spotify, creating playlists during a time when playlists were becoming popular on the platform.

“I overlooked around 50 playlists at Spotify. Some would change weekly, some monthly,” Khan said. “I probably made over 500 iterations of the playlists.”

Khan was then offered a spot at Parlophone in a new role, working with Apple, Spotify, and YouTube Music to build on-platform marketing campaigns that would promote an artist or band’s new music. Afterwards, he’d track the data behind it all. He led streaming campaigns for Lily Allen, Gorillaz, and Coldplay, among others.

For Coldplay’s “Live in Buenos Aires” album, his team created an interactive, multimedia experience on Spotify that unlocked archived videos and exclusive live performances as the listener scrolled through the “This is Coldplay” playlist. Then, Khan collaborated with the platform to figure out which countries the campaign would work best in.

Although music consumption via streaming platforms is more common these days, Khan said the industry still works in the same way. The higher the track is on the charts, the better it does. “That can help radio, which leads to a chart position,” he said. “It’s all a cycle. It’s all part of a big machine, hence the pressure.”

“When I first took the streaming manager role, there were a few [of them in the industry]. Now, it’s become a common thing at labels to have someone who’s part of the label to deal with all of these Spotify’s and Apple’s,” Khan said. “It’s not easy.”

He was lucky to have been able to work on both sides of the music promotion coin — picking music to add to playlists on streaming platforms and pushing out music to get picked up on these platforms. It offered him a unique perspective on the mechanics behind music streaming and top charts.

“It definitely made me realize what I enjoy, and that’s the creative side of things. Less so about analyzing data.”

Now, Khan is back at BBC, in a more relaxed role that allows him to flex his curation skills. As one of their Editorial Producers, he’s tasked to update a variety of music mixes by listening to the music played on BBC’s radio shows, moving the tracks around to see how they’d flow, and weaving the tracks together.

“We have creative freedom, which is one thing I love,” he said. “To do what you want to do, and then come up with a plan to try and make people talk about it.”

I remember first hearing Sade in my best friend’s mum’s car when I was about 13. Since then, I’ve been enthralled with her and her music. This record is my favourite and really is a timeless classic.

When I was going through my moody teenage phase, I remember being really into Linkin Park. I wasn’t a massive rock fan growing up, but I think the fact that there was a rap vibe to it pulled me in.

Believe it or not, Beyoncé and Jay-Z was the first big concert I went to. I’d won tickets (probably the only thing I’ve won in my life) and took my best friend along. It was an event called the Urban Music Festival and took part at Earl’s Court, which is now demolished. I think that day cemented what sort of music i then went on to listen to.

I grew up listening to lots of radio and remember finding pirate radio stations that used to play so much underground music at the time (like this song). I then got into jungle/drum and bass, and still love it to this day.

I mean he was the rapper for my generation. All of my friends were into him and I remember my friend, who used to download albums, burned me a copy of this album, complete with artwork.

This track reminds me of being in 6th form, doing my A-levels, and having this song soundtrack the summer. It really was a golden time for this sort of R&B… Bobby Valentino, Omarion, etc.

My mum was a massive fan of George Michael and Wham! I remember her putting on music when she would clean the house on the weekend. I guess I inherited this from her.

UK Garage was huge in the year 2000/2001. I remember religiously buying the Pure Garage CD compilations mixed by DJ EZ. I can’t remember which one this was on, but garage soundtracked many of my summers growing up.

One of the original Grime records, which I remember hearing on BBC Radio 1Xtra, a digital radio station. It was also the soundtrack to my 6th form years.

I have no idea how I discovered this, but for me, it was a moment where I woke up to UK Rap and started to delve into that world, listening to the likes of Skinnyman, Jehst, and more.

This was a super exciting album for me and my friends. We didn’t know who Dizzee was, but I remember one friend telling me all about it. I guess it was an old school word-of-mouth recommendation that got me into him.

Probably the “newest” song on this list, but I remember when dubstep was a thing. Then along came Burial with these immersive soundscapes, and this song sounded like nothing I’d been listening to.

Listen to Rob Khan’s curated 12 songs playlist below.