An earlier version of this article incorrectly attributed song lyrics from the Broadway show "Avenue Q" to the band Semisonic. The error has been corrected in this version.
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Downloading Empathy to Your iPod
"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."
 Justine Saylors with her son, Lance, in 2003, the last year of his life. (Courtesy of Saylors family) |
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." (Links to playlists will only work for iTunes users.) The list's compiler notes that "Long Drive" consists of "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".
Saylors also found "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) and "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.
