Playlist Anxiety
I may be a blogoholic, but one thing I don’t
suffer from is playlist anxiety. I’ll proudly sing along to Guns n’ Roses one minute, Ashlee Simpson the next,
and then flow right into a headbanging rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody without even the slightest blush. According to
News.com, a Georgia Tech study examined playlist anxiety as a growing problem in offices where people are sharing their
iTunes Music Libaries with their coworkers: ”As yet, the study remains more anthropological than representative.
The researchers interviewed 13 people at an unnamed office about their use of iTunes and their perceptions of other
people based on playlist-reading.”
Hey, TUAW readers: Do any of you suffer from playlist anxiety? Do you think that you are what you play? Discuss. And please don’t forget to tell us what you are listening to.

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Laurie said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Well most people /would/ be pretty embarrassed if their whole office knew they were listening to Ashlee Simpson.
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C.K. Sample, III said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Then most people are FOOLS. Ashlee rules! Just watch her show on MTV and you will know the truth. She's a talented young rocker!
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W Zach Jordan said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Ashlee Simpson is hardly a rocker
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Scott said 3:49PM on 9-13-2005
I think most of the people in my office wouldn't know who 70-80% of the people are for the music in most of my playlists. And thankfully there's very little I'd even be slightly embarrased about listening to :)
It's good to be a music snob.
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C.K. Sample, III said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
I'm sorry, W. Zach Jordan, what was that? I was too busy rockin' out to Ashlee Simpson to hear what you typed...
*singing off-key* YOU MAKE ME WANNA LA LA ...
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zach said 8:46PM on 11-01-2005
playlist anxiety... ehh not really. i do have lots of playlists for certain moods i'm in, but i can always listen to some shuffle on my ipod while driving. loves it!
currently i'm listening to:
the faint - wet from birth
eisley - room noises
say anything - is a real boy
lucero - lucero
the rocket summer - hello good friend
copeland - in motion
lovedrug - pretend you're alive
anyone else?
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Dan Siercks said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
I've got my ipod mostly for the fact that it can hold a large amount of full albums. I don't do playlists, I just listen to full discs at a time.
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Pedro said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Holy $hit you didnt mention DRM once in that whole post... are you sure you wrote that one or did you steal it from one of the other TUAW kids and slap your name on it?
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bryan said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
my playlist reguarly jumps from eminem to the beatles to the doors and back to eminem again
check out my site for a live update to what i am listening to
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Randy said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
I actually called it iPod Shame last Nov - and yes, I DO suffer from it. It only gets worse now that MSN Messenger can pick up the current playing track from iTunes and blast that across contact lists!
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Brian said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Audioscrobbler is even worse. Tracks every single song I play. AHHH!!
http://www.audioscrobbler.com
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C.K. Sample, III said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Pedro, Good catch! I'll go back and edit the post to mention how I hate DRM right NOW!
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Darkside said 11:22PM on 7-14-2005
A little anxiety, yes. I just have to rationalize... um, I mean, realize... that it's OK to have Britney Spears - Toxic and other guilty pleasures mixed in with my "good" music. It's all subjective anyway, all about personal tastes.
Except for Ashlee Simpson, since she's obviously a no-talent hack forced on us by the soulless music executives and their media toadies. Lipsyncing to pre-recorded formulaic drivel signals all absence of creativity, and the brainwashed state of the average brain-dead consumer.
My, this asbestos suit is quite comfortable and fashionable. ;-)
Right now, listening to White Zombie - Electric Head Pt. 1 (The Agony).
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Laurie said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Hey now.. let's not make my charting more difficult! Please keep your http://apple.weblogsinc.com/entry/1234000880035464/ What Are Your Listening To? posts in the right topic. I'm pulling them all together for a analyses!
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Pedro said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
I love this place!
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Billy K said 11:23AM on 7-18-2005
My office just got OSX, and hence the ability to share playlists, which I notice the rest of the office is slowly discovering.
My anxiety is not in what others would think of my playlists (most of it would be completely unknown to them), but what I find on THEIR playlists.
Some truly awful stuff. it's scary to find out who I'm working with.
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iBob said 8:17AM on 6-30-2005
For a few weeks, i moved into a student digs, with a big LAN, and before i let my music library out onto the network, i binned over 2 gig of music i was embarrassed to let people know i own!
What does that say about me?!
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Laurie said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Look, if I can share my iTunes library with a few Barry Manilow tracks in plain sight, I can't imagine what YOU were so afraid of, Bob!
Still I draw the line at Ashlee and Britney and just about anyone else who ends in an eeeeeee (my own name excluded of course... and I actually have a lovely voice, I'll have you know)
Pedro - ditch that /other/ crowd you hang with and stick with us :)
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_victor said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
No shame here... But then, I work in a totally Wintel world. Mine is the only Mac in the entire company, which employs a few thousand across the country... The only way anyone knows what I'm listening to is when I plug in my iTalk late at night and walk around listening out loud.
A sampling from latest played:
Insane in the Membrane - Cypress Hill
Head Like a Hole - NIN
Sunrise - Duran Duran
Work It - Missy Elliott
Disco Inferno - The Trammps
Spooky - Young Rascals
Just A Girl - No Doubt
Private Idaho - B-52's
Mud Buggy - Southern Culture on the Skids
old Batman TV Theme
Take a Chance on Me - Abba
Agua de Beber - Jobim
Seven Nation Army - White Stripes
Illegal Smile - John Prine
Amerikkka's Most Wanted - Ice Cube
Wannabe - Spice Girls
I am SO not afraid to share. C'mon people. Shame is so 20th century!
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Xian said 4:15PM on 6-16-2005
Not that it has anything to do with your fight over A. Simpson but I LOVE the GREEN AD for Napster on the right side panel.LOVE IT! Keep on ROCKING!;)
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