A lengthy article in the March 1 Washington Post examines the growing playlist cultural trend. The analysis is introduced with the story of a woman who, after losing her son to pediatric cancer, assembled a playlist of grief songs and those she associated with the boy. Using the songs in her own grieving, she began sharing the playlist and then finding ways to use it to support the cause of curing the kind of cancer that took her son.

Playlists are turning up and being shared online for many other themes. One study quoted in the article predicts that by 2010 25% of online music-store sales will be driven by playlists assembled by individuals close to the theme they convey. What the experts are saying relayed in the article includes:

“Instead of primarily disc jockeys and music videos shaping how we view music, we have a greater opportunity to hear from each other,” [Harvard researcher Derek Slater] and Gartner [Inc.] 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.”

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.’”