With the United Nations' International Day of Happiness being celebrated this Friday, a playlist of songs will be released to coincide with the event. It will be comprised of not only tracks suggested by famous musicians and stars of the Music industry, but will also feature some of the choices suggested by the general public. With Celebrities such as Ed Sheeran, James Blunt, John Legend and David Guetta having been invited to and made their choices already, it will be intriguing to see just which songs make it on to the final selection.
Another famous person to have contributed his choice to the 'happiness playlist' is the UN's very own Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, who opted for Stevie Wonder's uplifting "Signed, Sealed, Delivered".
Wonder is a fitting choice for a person within the UN's framework to make, as he represents them in the guise of the Messenger of Peace for persons with disabilities. Endorsing the event, Mr Ban said that they are using the medium of music "to show solidarity with the millions of people around the world suffering from poverty, human-rights abuses, humanitarian crises and the effects of environmental degradation and climate change."
However, it is not just the rich, famous and powerful who have been encouraged to submit their choices, as the UN have asked for the public to make their own suggestions via the medium of Twitter. Using the hashtag #HappySoundsLike, pretty much anyone can make their own pick, with the final playlist being made known on Friday, when the International Day of Happiness will take place.
Five of the submissions made by the general public will be selected for inclusion on the playlist, those being chosen by the Australian singer/ songwriter Cody Simpson.
The launch of the 'happy' playlist is to be in partnership with MixRadio, which is Microsoft's music-streaming service.
The concept of an International Day of Happiness was created in 2012 by the UN, with the overriding aim of promoting the theme that "the pursuit of happiness is a fundamental goal". Besides the new playlist, a free "Happiness Pack" is also available for those wishing to get involved, available on their website.
