What your iPod playlist says about you
Who do you share your iPod playlist with?
Your lover? Your lover's husband? Your colleagues at the office? The strangely smelling man who sits next to you on the bus?
Well, researchers at the University of Cambridge have a message for you. It reads: "Don't."
According to these flatland boffins, your values, your personality, even your ethnicity, and social class (well, it is England, after all) will be judged by what you slip onto your iPod.
Jason Rentfrow, the chap who dreamed up this vital and surprising study at the university's Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, declared to the Telegraph that letting others sneak a peek at your Blondie and Mahler may "reinforce stereotypes and, potentially social prejudices."
He added: "This research suggests that, even though our assumptions may not be accurate, we get a very strong impression about someone when we ask them what music they like."
You will, I know, both fear and adore some of Rentfrow's conclusions. Those who have a predilection for jazz are, supposedly, liberal, friendly, and sociable. Well, of course. That's what pleasantly discordant music has always said about anyone.
Clearly a cheerful, optimistic, quiet-spoken, philanthropic type.
(Credit: CC Stephen Hucker/Flickr)However, those who love classical music should beware of showing their iPod even to their children. Especially to their children. You see, while classical music elicits some positive traits, such as intelligence (really), it also rings with it an aura of dullness, ugliness, and a lack of athleticism.
And, please get this (and keep it), those committed to electronica are viewed as "a bit neurotic".
Yes, someone paid for this wisdom. Sadly, not Rentfrow. Perhaps I am too cynical, too liberal, or just too into Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel. Perhaps I am made slightly intemperate because I am a graduate of this Cambridge University. Yes, in those social and political sciences.
However, what I learned in my studies is that people are generally quite a wicked lot. They make judgments about others all day. They do this mainly in the hope of making themselves feel better. They do this mainly so that they can take a rest from confronting their own deeply trifling lives.
They judge your shoes. (God, not Aldo) They judge your shirt. (Has to be Ross Dress-For-Less) They judge your hairdo. (Supercuts, surely) And they judge your taste in men, women and pets. (I fear he likes all three)
It constitutes nothing other than a reflection on their own fine, deteriorating selves. Yes, you can choose to be moved by their prejudices. And many are. Especially those who adore Kraftwerk.
However, an alternative is to fill your iPod with Nigel Kennedy's wonderful rendition of Beethoven's Violin Concerto, followed by some Arctic Monkeys, followed by a little A-Ha and Abdullah Ibrahim.
And then perhaps a couple of Brahms's Hungarian Dances, some Argentinian folk music, a dollop of Steel Pulse and a little T-Rex, not forgetting some Waylon Jennings, some Lambchop, a small sprig of mid-period Britney, some Glasvegas, some Sweet Billy Pilgrim and a little Southside Johnny. All smartly rounded up by a touch of Wagner, some of William Shatner's finest recordings and a sprinkling of Big Squirrel.
Before you know it, they'll be calling you Renaissance Man.
And before you know that you really may not be Renaissance Man, you'll be thinking up some more pressing subjects to research.
Yes, we are all vulnerable, pathetic beings. But if we really have to worry about telling others what music we have on our iPods, then we might as well relinquish what remains of our selves and join the Miley Cyrus Fan Club.
Chris Matyszczyk is an award-winning creative director who advises major corporations on content creation and marketing. He brings an irreverent, sarcastic, and sometimes ironic voice to the tech world. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. 
Besides, if you show someone your playlist and it "reinforce(s) stereotypes and, potentially social prejudices", it seems to be it's probably because you're a walking stereotype.
I know that line was meant as a scoffing criticism of the unenlightened masses, but if you fit yourself into a mold and only listen to the music your "type" is "supposed to", it sounds like it's not prejudice at all but your own predictability.
I personally think this is not an issue of people showing others their play list, but an issue of the people who see these play lists being prejudice themselves. Don't tell us not to show our play list to others, tell us to be fair and respectful. Since everyone is different, there's bound to be more beyond the "stereotype".
Dead on...
So far, nothing but good reviews - from the 22 yr old hottie in marketing, and the 30 somethings in accounting, to a 50 yr old VP.
What does that say about them? Me? Dunno. Maybe that having a little in common with a lot of people is a good thing?
don't turn this into another "Apple vs Microsoft" type thing (who cares anyway) you know perfectly well that when they say iPod they don't just mean iPod but also every other MP3 player in the market. The word iPod has become a term for describing all MP3 players (for those who don't know a lot about technology that is).
(and please, no comments about walking around with cool whip and jello in your jockeys)
I agree with you, it is technically incorrect, but thats not my argument. All I'm saying is they are referring to all MP3 Players even though they only say iPods, because for people who are (what's a term for it) 'tech illiterate' they know what an iPod is but not necessarily an MP3 player (even though they are the same thing).
Speak for yourself, "man"
I'm not sure whether this is hypocritical or just confused. Or maybe it's just a very slow day in Blogger-land...
"L'enfer, c'est l' autres."
(Hell is other people.)
Well, he just did. Let's spam Mr Matyszczy e-mail with a spam relevant to his "pathetic existance" - bills, antidepresants, viagra and anticancer drugs.
- by wylbur August 24, 2009 12:36 AM PDT
- My playlist: take those buds out and listen to the birds singing. As for the rest of it, my turntable can keep a secret.
- Like this Reply to this comment
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (43 Comments)Gosh, amazing that people believe having a playlist is expressing themselves! Get real, write a song or a poem, paint a picture that is expressing yourself. Listening to prerecorded music is just being a consumer and we are all ready profiled based on our consumption everywhere we go.