intelligent design.

Don't get me wrong, I love making myself a rockin' playlist the old fashioned way, but sometimes the iTunes Genius Mixes make my life, specifically the sorting through my 9,000+ songs part, a lot easier.

More than anything though I get a kick out of how random my personal library is. I present you with the twelve automated 'channels' they give me and which artists they cite as examples:

1. Indie Rock, as in Death Cab For Cutie, Modest Mouse, CSS, etc.
2. Adult Alternative Pop, as in Bright Eyes, Maroon 5, Sarah McLachlan, etc.
3. Pop, as in Justin Timberlake, Kelly Clarkson, Pink, etc.
4. Brit-Pop & Rock, as in Jack Peñate, Coldplay, The Cribs, etc.
5. Contemporary R&B, as in Melanie Fiona, Rihanna, Mya, etc.
6. Hip-Hop/Rap, as in Kanye West, Dr. Dre, Pitbull, etc.
7. Alternative Pop/Rock, as in Red Hot Chili Peppers, No Doubt, Foo Fighters, etc.
8. Teen Pop, as in Jesse McCartney, Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, etc.
9. Americana, as in Neko Case, Nickel Creek, Wilco, etc.
10. Electro-Pop, as in Beck, The Postal Service, Santigold, etc.
11. Punk, as in Green Day, Blink-182, Pearl Jam, etc.
12. Country, as in Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Dixie Chicks, etc.

It's like I have musical ADD. And I never listen to the same mix two days in a row. Okay, that's a lie. Anything with 'pop' in the title definitely gets more airplay. It's called 'popular' music for a reason, folks.