Playlists a peek into celebrity minds

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Sep 23, 2004 by DAVE PHILIPPS, THE GAZETTE

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WHAT: iTunes celebrity playlists

WHY YOU NEED IT: Good mix tapes have an alchemy that makes them more than the sum of their parts. These days, CDs and mp3 playlists have trumped the tape, but the effect is the same: If someone has an ear for stringing songs together, it's magic.

HOW IT WORKS: It makes sense that musicians might assemble some pretty cool mixes, so the folks at Apple decided to include a "celebrity playlist" section on the iTunes software, where users can download mix tapes by artists including Burt Bacharach and Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott.

The playlists, compatible with Macs and PCs, generally cost about $12 to download. Anyone not already on iTunes will have to download software to view the site. Download the software at www.apple.com/ itunes.

The best part is that curious music connoisseurs don't have to pay to see that Sting includes Bruce Springsteen's "Ghost of Tom Joad" and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on his playlist, or that Adam Sandler paired Neil Young and Ice Cube on his.

Scrolling through the 200-odd playlists Apple has collected in the year since starting the program, it becomes evident that all lists are not created equal. Some are vapidly self-promotional, and others are so obscure that only a "High Fidelity"-type clerk could like them. But finding out what musical giants like Michael Stipe want you to hear is a journey past Clear Channel and into the hip.

WHERE TO GET IT: www.apple.com/itunes/playlists.html