Downloading Empathy To Your Ipod - interesting article......
- From: Michael Schey <mscheynjSPAMBLOCK@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 01 Mar 2006 11:42:21 -0500
Interesting article on the future of playlists, and how they are
becoming a major part of the music business:
Downloading Empathy to Your iPod
Online Playlist Creators Search for Catharsis, Discover a Marketplace
By Howard Parnell
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 1, 2006; 9:41 AM
Justine Saylors is an accidental DJ on a mission.
Six months ago, she was a grieving mom spending hour after hour on
Apple's iTunes online music service, downloading songs to match her
sorrow. Josh Groban's "Remember" became a particular favorite, with
its "Bolero"-like refrain "Remember/I will still be here/As long as
you hold me/in your memory/Remember me." It made her think of her son,
Lance Kowalski, who died in October 2003 at the age of 13.
Saylors was deep in "the grief pit" nearly two years after her son's
death, she wrote in a recent e-mail exchange with a reporter.
"I sat outside with my iPod blaring it over and over," she recalled.
"My world revolved around him, and when he was gone it crushed me
beyond belief. There are times still when I miss him so much, I find
myself holding my breath."
Last summer the 44-year old Lake Oswego, Ore., resident discovered
iMixes -- music playlists compiled by iTunes users, then uploaded and
shared with other customers. Soon she was typing words and phrases
such as "bereavement" and "death of a child" into the iMix search
tool, then sampling and in many cases buying songs at 99 cents a pop
from the lists that turned up.
By the time another October arrived, Saylors had amassed a sizable
collection of some of the most heartbreaking music to be found on
iTunes. And nearly all of it had been recommended not by professional
critics or some sort of Amazonian collaborative filtering bot, but by
people who -- judging from notes posted with their iMixes or just the
song selections alone -- seemed to Justine to be much like herself:
hurting, missing someone special, reaching out.
The result was a personal playlist of songs that Lance would sing
along to, that were used in soundtracks of home movies taken in his
final months, that were played at his funeral, and that she could cry
to after.
Today, Saylors is herself one of the more visible iMix creators, and
in recent months iTunes users have rated hers among the best of the
more than 300,000 lists available on the service. In searching for a
way to cope with her loss and create awareness of neuroblastoma, the
pediatric cancer that claimed her son, she became part of a phenomenon
that some researchers predict will dramatically change the online
music business before the decade is out.
'Something Important Going On'
IMixes -- as well as playlists on other services such as Rhapsody,
Musicstrands and Soundflavor -- are the online cousins of amateur
cassette-tape and CD mixes created over the years by countless music
collectors as soundtracks for parties and road trips. Many of the
playlists focus on a theme -- and many of those on a personal one,
whether the subject is a lost love, a class reunion, a nasty breakup,
duty in Iraq or a new romance.
Even late, lamented radio stations merit personal tributes. The old
WHFS, an alternative-rock pioneer for decades on Baltimore-Washington
area airwaves before changing to a Spanish-language format in early
2005, is the theme of more than a dozen current iTunes playlists.
But as personal and private as they can be, such playlists are
expected to have a significant impact on online music distribution and
sales, according to one recent study by market research firm Gartner
Inc. and Harvard University's Berkman Center for Internet and Society.
By the year 2010, the study predicts, 25 percent of online music-store
transactions will be driven by people like Saylors.
Not that Saylors and others like her go into it thinking about driving
transactions for Apple, said Harvard researcher Derek Slater,
co-author of the study "Consumer Taste Sharing Is Driving the Online
Music Business and Democratizing Culture." And not that driving
transactions is the only benefit the researchers see.
"Even if we're wrong in our prediction by however many percentage
points, there is something important going on culturally here," said
Slater, who also frequently writes on the subject in his blog, "A
Copyfighter's Musings." Saylors and others like her may constitute a
new breed of music "tastemakers," he argues.
"Instead of primarily disc jockeys and music videos shaping how we
view music, we have a greater opportunity to hear from each other," he
and Gartner researcher Mike McGuire wrote in their December study.
"These [playlist] tools allow people to play a greater role in shaping
culture, which, in turn, shapes themselves. In this way,
recommendation tools encourage music fans to engage in expressive
acts, becoming creators."
Rebecca Tushnet, a professor with Georgetown University Law Center,
has studied and written about playlists and mix CDs from an
intellectual-property perspective. Her conclusion: The creation of a
playlist or mix CD of music composed by others is a creative act in
itself, a form of free speech.
"It is an important means of self-expression," she says. "The
motivation is an urge to say, 'This is who I am, and you can find out
who I am by knowing what I love.'"
Anatomy of a Playlist
Saylors built her collection by cherry-picking from iMix playlists
with names like "Long Drive From a Funeral" (iMixer note: "Songs I
recorded to listen to while driving back from my son's funeral. A
weird assortment." Sample songs: "Melissa" by the Allman Brothers,
"The Lady in Red" by Chris De Burgh, and "Vissi D'arte, Vissi D'amore"
featuring Leontyne Price, from the album "20 Great Soprano Arias").
.... or "Grief -- Love Carries You Through" (iMixer note: "On June 6th
my twin girls, Riley and Dylan, were born too early to survive. In the
last month with the help of other grieving parents, I have compiled
these songs that touch my heart, comfort my soul and bring tears to my
eyes." Sample songs: "Believe" by Brooks and Dunn, "Angels in Waiting"
by Tammy Cochran, and "I Hope You Dance" by Lee Ann Womack).
.... or "Born to Be an Angel -- In Memory of Nathaniel Joseph 03/24/05"
(iMixer note: "This mix of songs is dedicated to my Angel. ... He was
diagnosed with anencephaly, and could not live outside of my womb."
Sample songs: "Godspeed" by the Dixie Chicks, "Who You'd Be Today" by
Kenny Chesney, and "Glory Baby" by Watermark).
"I would literally try to find the biggest tear-jerkers," Saylors
said.
Around the second anniversary of her son's death, she decided to try
her own hand at iMixing. "The songs on the first list are all songs
that I could relate to, and also some of the songs that Lance loved by
the Back Street Boys," she said. Other tracks include "Slumber My
Darling" by Alison Krauss and Yo-Yo Ma and "Only Time" by Enya .
"But," said Saylors, "the one that really stands out is Van Morrison's
'Have I told You Lately,' because I used to sing that to Lance all of
his life."
The result was "Missing My Son, Lance," with an iMix note that reads:
"This is a list I have created in honor of the best person I have ever
known and miss so, so terribly." The 45-song expression of parental
grief quickly became one of the service's top 10 user-ranked iMixes,
much to Saylors's surprise. "I was literally stunned," she recalled in
late December.
'I Found You on iTunes'
Among those supporters was Carla Wessel of St. Petersburg, Fla., the
mother of Nathaniel Joseph, who had posted her "Born to be an Angel"
iMix last spring.
A month before Nathaniel's due date in early 2005, Wessel was told her
son would not survive childbirth. A diagnosis of anencephaly meant
Nathaniel's brain failed to form. "The head stopped above the eyes and
ears," Wessel said in a recent phone call, explaining the cap worn by
Nathaniel in hospital photos taken soon after delivery.
With weeks to prepare for the inevitable, Wessel turned to iMix and
downloaded songs to help her get through. "I chose songs that had
words that would be appropriate to the situation," she said. "And some
people mentioned songs they liked, so I downloaded them."
Though she made the playlist for herself initially, she soon decided
to post it for the benefit of others. "I can't write a song, I can't
write a poem, but this helps," she explained. "Whenever I find
something that has helped me, I share it."
On the opposite coast, in the opposite corner of the country, Saylors
came across Wessel's playlist while compiling her own collection
several months later. "I downloaded a few from her mix and rated it
five stars. That is how Carla and I got in touch via e-mail."
And Wessel, in turn, encouraged Saylors to continue iMixing in memory
of Lance.
"Seeing the attention it was getting, and the attention for pediatric
cancer, it's been a trip," said Saylors. She has gone on to post
"Missing My Son Lance" parts 2, 3, 4 and 5, drawing in part from
suggestions offered by the scores of visitors who have signed the
guestbook of Lance's memorial site since her first playlist was first
published.
"I found you on iTunes," wrote Jerry of Nashville. "Your story made me
hug my son just a little tighter tonight. May God bless and keep you
wrapped in his loving arms."
"I found the site on iTunes," wrote Stuart of Boca Raton, Fla. "My
eyes are filled with tears."
Wrote Matt of Shreveport, La., "I never thought in a million years
something so powerful as your words and dedication to your son would
be discovered on a music download service."
And this, say Slater and McGuire, is what they're getting at when they
write of personal playlists "democratizing culture."
"Once they find others that have similar or at least interesting
tastes, consumers might interact with each other," the two wrote in
their December study. "Some of these interactions may be simple and
fleeting, but others may help form stronger bonds.
"To the extent the tools can create bonds between people, the creation
of these communities may have beneficial spill-over effects into the
rest of our lives."
Benefits of Self-Expression
The current percentage of sales driven by playlists is hard to pin
down, according to McGuire. But with some 10 million credit cards
reported on account with iTunes last quarter and the number of
individual playlists approaching 400,000, McGuire said, "it is still a
relatively small amount." ITunes does not have information about
iMixes' effect on sales, according to spokeswoman Amy Gardner.
What is clear though, McGuire said, is that personal playlists are
having an impact. "I don't think they'd keep it up if they weren't,"
said McGuire, citing as further evidence Yahoo's purchase in recent
weeks of the music playlist service Webjay and the hiring of its
creator, Lucas Gonze.
Enabling users to essentially recommend music purchases to others
underscores that music is something worth paying for online, according
to McGuire. "Over the long haul, these kinds of tools continue to
place value on the music for consumers."
Besides encouraging purchases rather than piracy, playlists also serve
to surface obscure or forgotten songs. "We now have access to music
far beyond what the typical Wal-Mart would carry," said Slater. "How
do you navigate that range of music? By exploring playlists created by
people who share your tastes."
"The [music] industry needs to take a look at playlists and really
rethink its approach to distribution. Turning individuals into
tastemakers can be a good thing," said Slater, who sees a day when
playlist creators become licensed distributors. "I'm not saying it's
easy, but I do think it's necessary and beneficial for the industry to
pursue."
In addition to the economic upside, the researchers see cultural
plusses, as well. "There is the benefit of allowing me or any
individual a way to place a stamp on the culture," said McGuire.
"For example, I can create a playlist that expresses my distaste and
disdain for the war in Iraq," he said. And that playlist may include
tracks recognized as protest songs as well as songs that might not be
recognized as such, but in the context of the list they take on new
meaning -- "the way I order it, the works I put in there."
Tushnet uses a Semisonic song for further illustration. Her "favorite
footnote" in her December 2004 Yale Law Journal paper "Steal This
Essay" quotes lyrics from "Singing in My Sleep" to make her point that
playlists provide a unique emotional outlet: "Sometimes when
someone/Has a crush on you/They'll make you a mix tape/To give you a
clue" and "Got your tape and it changed my mind/Heard your voice
between the lines."
"These folks just enjoy and are passionate about music and like to be
the Lewis and Clark, if you will, about music among their friends,"
McGuire said. "It's a statement of self."
Slater concurs: "This is not just something people are throwing
together haphazardly. Music is important to our identity, our shared
experience of culture, whether mass culture or niche culture, but also
to the way we see ourselves -- what are my tastes? What am I about?
It's a process of identity forming at its core."
McGuire is following up the December study with more research into
what motivates playlist publishers and consumers. "Of those who look
for opportunities to publish their tastes in music, more than
two-thirds said they did so simply because they 'wanted to share the
music they like with their friends.' So they're not looking for fame
[or] fortune," he said of creators like Saylors and Wessel.
As for those who look to playlists for recommendations, McGuire has
found that 20 percent said they preferred consumer recommendations
over a professional DJ's, and 35 percent said they preferred the
recommendations of like-minded individuals. And while those numbers
don't constitute a majority, said McGuire, "it is a healthy chunk of
people."
McGuire describes his work as identifying the "early indicators" of
change, and views these baseline numbers as strong ones. "By
supplementing and augmenting traditional tastemakers," he says,
playlist creators "are adding a digital spin to word of mouth." These
"new mediators and tastemakers," he continued, can exert a very strong
influence, and their influence can be much larger than their immediate
circle of friends."
"This," according to Slater, "is potentially a watershed moment."
Playlist Therapy
For individuals such as Saylors and Wessel, though, the creation of a
playlist marks a much more personal watershed moment. Among the things
the two women have in common is that they listen to their own
playlists often. It's a form of therapy, they say -- a step toward
healing.
"There are times I can listen to them without tears, other times I
listen to them when I'm in the grief pit and it allows me to cry,"
Saylors said. "Doing these iMixes got me through the holiday season."
Wessel listens to "Born to Be an Angel" periodically to check her
state of mind.
"I make myself listen to it to put myself in that space," she said.
"It's kind of a gauge for me to see where I am, to see what kind of
shape I'm in. I can sit back and think about the blessing that I had.
If I listen to it 10 times and haven't cried for 10 times, then I know
I'm on a pretty good stretch."
And by sharing her gauge online, Wessel is doing her part to help
others cope with personal tragedy. "A loss is a loss no matter what,"
she said, "and I think music can help all losses."
As for Saylors, playlists have helped her do more than get through the
holidays. They have given her renewed purpose.
"Ive been obsessed with it, I guess," she said, shortly after
publishing "Pediatric Cancer Survivor," a playlist commemorating one
neuroblastoma patient's third year of remission. "I felt so bad since
Lance died because I hadn't really done anything for the fight. I've
been so grief-stricken."
But, she said, " I think since iTunes is so huge, people are seeing
these Web sites about kids who are dying of cancer. So that's my goal,
to get the word out. This is really one of the first things that's
gotten me on a roll."
Parnell is editor of washingtonpost.com.
Michael
(http://michaelschey.blogspot.com/)
.
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