Let the Music Play

Want to share your music (or, more precisely, your music playlist)? Not a show can go by, Steve grumps, without his cohost working music into the conversation. He mocks, retorts Angela, but playlists are something creative people have been sharing since mix tapes. No more, no less--just newer tech.

For starters, you can share your own IMix with friends. Build one in ITunes, then use the playlist arrow to send it to the publishing area of the site. You can annotate, maybe explain why you chose what you chose, then hit the Tell A Friend button and enter the relevant e-mail addresses. Your friends get an e-mail pointing them to your list, and if they like what they hear they can get a copy for their own music player (for a small fee). Rhapsody and Musicmatch do the same thing as part of their subscription services.

Angela's no ITunes fan, but there's a site she does like that does this: MusicStrands. It serves up tons of lists with little clips of what's on them, and if you like what you hear, the site links you to buying venues. MusicStrands also has a little software program you can download that'll watch what you play and make recommendations based on which songs other people have tagged.

Other services have their own version of this; Yahoo Music, for instance, will let you listen in on the so-called station your friend has built by rating artists and songs they like or don't like. If your friend put some effort into their ratings, the results can be pretty interesting. And it's legal. This is good.