The Cultural Benefits of Music Playlists

Yesterday's article in the Washington Post, "Downloading Empathy to Your iPod," draws on the research of Berkman affiliate Derek Slater and Mark McGuire of Gartner.  The article details how music playlists are tools for creative expression and giving rise to vibrant communities and rich interpersonal relationships.

Derek Slater is quoted in the WashingtonPost article, and we followed up with him in the form of a Q&A. --

Question: The article states that, "as personal and private as they can be, such playlists are expected to have a significant impact on online music distribution and sales." Would you draw the correlation out for us here? What is it about listening to others' playlists that generates music sales?

Derek: Playlists are simply lists of songs put together by a music fan. These lists might be organized a particular theme, like "Best Songs of 1982" or "Songs for Valentine's Day." They can be useful in organizing your music collection, but they've also become a way to share your tastes with others. For instance, the iTunes Music Store has a feature called iMix, where people can post playlists. You can then flip through the playlists and, if you find a particular song or a whole list that you like, buy it.The music available in online music stores (let alone the P2P networks) far outstrips what's available in a typical Wal-Mart. To sort through the cornucopia of selections and find music that suits their tastes, consumers need help. Recommendations from others, whether through playlists or other taste-sharing tools, can lead consumers to new music or remind them of old favorites, triggering purchases. Turning to friends and peers for music suggestions and word-of-mouth is nothing new, but the online environment provides an opportunity to greatly expand those communications. Likewise, music creators and distributors face a more complex environment in promoting their music. What's important in the online environment is creating initial interest for music and then finding as many paths to spread it as quickly as possible. Playlist sharing can help accomplish that.


Question: The article profiles a woman who lost her son and who
expressed her grief through her music playlists (the playlists
featured songs expressing bereavement, sorrow). Other iTunes
listeners contacted her and expressed their condolences. In your report, you and Mike argue that playlists are democratizing tools and that people who share similar tastes will seek ways to connect with one another. Do many music playlist sites currently offer people ways to connect with one another? What are the limitations of those features? How do you foresee the evolution of these tools?

Derek: Music playlist sharing tools are still nascent, but they are quickly evolving. One key component will be incorporating playlists into other applications. Right now, playlist sharing is mostly contained within particular tools, like iMix, but playlist sharing is likely to become more disaggregated. For instance, Yahoo! and Real are making it easier to publish playlists on your website or blog. That will help incorporate taste-sharing into various social domains.
Many tools are starting to use social networking-style features. You can mark a particular playlist publisher as a "friend" or "favorite," so you can keep up with their playlist publishing. You might also then see who their favorite playlist publishers are. Also, some sites let you create groups which people with common interests can join.
Of course, these sorts of tools can exist independent of playlist
publishing (see, for instance, MySpace). But playlist publishing can enhance that experience, and vice-versa. I expect we'll see more cross-over between these types of services.
For now, though, many playlist sharing sites are rather limited. For instance, in the Rhapsody music store's Playlist Central, you don't even have the option to publish an email address or link to other information about yourself. In turn, it's difficult to contact a playlist publisher you like or connect with them in other ways.


Question: In the article Mike is quoted as saying that "enabling users to essentially recommend music purchases to others underscores that usic is something worth paying for online."
Do you and Mike think that music playlist tools can help the music industry handle P2P and "compete with free"?

Derek: Playlist sharing is one part of the puzzle. More generally, the music industry needs to incorporate individuals' sharing music into its business model. Rather than looking at P2P as a threat, they need to view it as opportunity. Regardless of what you think about illicit file-sharing, licensed sharing is clearly beneficial - individuals can help drive transactions and promote music.
Playlist sharing is starting to demonstrate the promise of licensed
sharing. Playlist sharers aren't distributing the actual music, but it
is driving transactions. Podcasts, P2P, and other tools could provide the same sort of benefits, if only the music industry would embrace them.


Question: You frequently talk about "turning people into tastemakers." Any indication what percentage of people who frequently use playlists to arrange their music become "tastemakers"?

Derek: We don't have an exact sense of that yet. What we do know is that people are listening to playlists frequently. Over 45% of early adopters of online music said in a recent survey that they listen to playlists at least once a week; over 25% said they did so 5-7 times a week. We also know that one-third of early adopters are interested in using music services that are powered by music taste sharing. As such, we think the playlist can be a powerful format for taste sharing.

If you would like to read their report, "Consumer Taste Sharing Is Driving the Online Music Business and Democratizing Culture," click here.  If you would like to listen to an interview with Derek Slater, click here.