13tracks began as a deeply personal passion for crafting the perfect playlist, rooted in a lifelong love of making mixtapes and compilations. Our founder, Kieron, created the first 13tracks playlist in 2011 based on a simple but intentional concept: there is something magical in thoughtfully connecting pieces of music to create an experience greater than the sum of its parts.

Thirteen tracks provide enough time for moods and feelings to come and go, taking you on a journey that serves as a soundtrack to either your internal emotional life, your experiences in the world, or both.

Over time, the project has evolved to explore the imagery and stories that sound evokes through the 13tracks magazine. Built on the belief that art inspires other art, each physical print issue invites thirteen writers and thirteen visual artists or designers to respond to the thirteen tracks of a specific playlist.

Rather than traditional music reviews, contributors create poems, short stories, essays, photographs, paintings, and sculptures inspired by the tracks. The visuals and the writing are developed completely separately but are presented alongside one another in the magazine, creating a beautifully layered relationship between sound, word, and image.

We believe deeply in the tangible experience of holding art and reading words while listening to the music that inspired them, which is why the magazine remains an exclusively physical product. With our first issue tackling playlist 13, and our second issue arriving soon in 2026, the magazine continues to ask contributors and readers alike: What emotions, ideas, or images does the track evoke, and where does it take you?