奧巴馬分享歌單爆紅 音樂服務商笑稱想簽下他

Some full-time music critics spend their lives curating playlists they hope become popular.

一些全職樂評人一輩子都在致力於編纂音樂播放列表，希望它們能夠走紅。

President Barack Obama outdid them all last week in between briefings by senior aides and rounds of golf with friends on vacation here.

上個星期，貝拉克·奧巴馬總統一舉超越了他們，而他的播放列表是在聽取資深助理的簡報，以及來這裏與朋友們打高爾夫球的間隙中做出的。

For the second year in a row, Obama released his summer vacation music and reading lists. And within a day, Obama's playlist was the most listened-to on Spotify,.

這是奧巴馬連續第二年公佈自己的暑期音樂和閱讀清單。不到一天時間，奧巴馬的播放列表就成了Spotify上收聽最多的個人列表。

That level of popularity occurs only when listeners do more than sample the songs, but actually enjoy the set, said Jonathan Prince, a Spotify spokesman.

Spotify的發言人喬納森·普林斯表示，聽衆們不僅僅是試聽裏面的歌曲，而是喜歡整個列表，只有這樣才能解釋它的受歡迎程度。

"For a playlist to hit No. 1 globally on its own out of nowhere is just bananas," Prince said. "If he wants a job curating music when this presidential gig is over, we'd take him in a second. That's very impressive."

"全球排名第一的播放列表就這麼突然冒出來，真是太瘋狂了，"普林斯說。"如果他的總統任期結束以後想要一份展播音樂的工作，我們馬上就會簽下他。真是了不起。"

While Prince said that Spotify could not yet measure how Obama's selections this year had influenced the popularity of particular artists, his picks last year led streams of the band Low Cut Connie to increase 2,906 percent overnight and those of the hip-hop duo Reflection Eternal to jump 798 percent.

普林斯表示，Spotify還沒有估計出奧巴馬今年選的歌能在多大程度上影響到具體藝人的流行程度，他只是舉了去年的例子，奧巴馬選擇的Low Cut Connie樂隊的播放量一夜之間就增長了2906%，嘻哈二人組Reflection Eternal則躍升了798%。

Barack Obama got high marks from several music critics for his summer playlist choices, in part because he mostly avoided politically expedient selections.

貝拉克·奧巴馬的夏日播放列表受到了若干樂評人的高度好評，部分是因爲他基本上避免了政治上討好的選擇。

There were no songs, for instance, from wildly popular artists like Adele, Ariana Grande, Justin Timberlake or Rihanna.

比如說，歌單裏沒有阿黛爾、愛莉安娜·格蘭德、賈斯汀·汀布萊克和蕾哈娜這樣一些最熱門的歌手的作品。

The president's musical taste — which includes surf rock, soul, blues and hip-hop — is open-minded, even eclectic.

總統喜歡的音樂包括衝浪搖滾、靈魂樂、布魯斯和嘻哈樂，他的音樂品味顯得很開放，甚至是兼容幷包的。

However, there is one notable exception: Missing for the second year in a row was even a nod to country music, widely played in Southern states where Obama could benefit from more people relating to him.

不過，有一個非常顯眼的例外。他第二年的歌單裏仍然沒有南方各州廣泛喜愛的鄉村樂。而讓南方有更多人與總統拉近距離，可以令他從中受惠。

"This is not a politician's playlist," said Rob Sheffield, a music columnist for Rolling Stone Magazine. "It's a list of someone who, if they were a full-time music lover or a full-time music archivist, would be an extremely good playlist."

"這不是一份政客的播放列表，"《滾石》雜誌的專欄作家羅布·謝菲爾德說，"這份列表即便出於一位全職音樂愛好者或全職音樂收藏家之手，也不失爲一份極好的歌單。"

The president's reading list has received a different reception. Several literary critics suggested that Obama's decision to include "The Underground Railroad" by Colson Whitehead on his reading list may have had more political overtones than his musical selections.

但是，這位總統所列書單的受歡迎程度與此大相徑庭。幾個文學批評家暗示，比起對歌曲的選擇，奧巴馬把科爾森·懷特海德的《地下鐵路》加入書單的決定，或許有着更濃烈的政治色彩。

"He's signaling that it's an important book in the day of Black Lives Matter," said Michael Schaub, a literary critic based in Austin, Texas.

"他在暗示，在'黑人的命也是命'的時代，它是一本很重要的書，"德克薩斯州奧斯汀的文學批評家邁克爾·紹布說道。

In a phone interview, Whitehead said that he and Obama both struggle to account for, and explain, the legacies of slavery and racism.

懷特海德接受電話採訪時表示，他和奧巴馬都力圖闡明相關責任並去解釋奴隸制和種族主義遺留下來的東西。

"When he does these big addresses on race, I see him engaged in the kind of work I hope I'm doing," Whitehead said.

"當他就種族議題發表那些重要演講時，我明白他做的是我希望自己正在做的工作，"懷特海德說。

Both musical and literary critics described Obama's selections as "emotional," a description rarely applied to the man himself.

音樂和文學批評家都以"情感強烈"來描述奧巴馬的選擇，而這個說法很少被用在奧巴馬本人身上。

A beach theme also ran through them. In addition to the Beach Boys on his playlist, Obama's reading list included "Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life," a memoir by William Finnegan, an avid surfer.

海灘似乎是貫穿其選擇的一個主題。除了把"海灘男孩"加入了播放列表，奧巴馬還把《野蠻的日子：衝浪生活》加入了自己的書單，該書是狂熱的衝浪者威廉·芬尼根的回憶錄。

Critics say the lists reflect Obama's self-assurance. "This playlist is confident and way cool, and it is decidedly not dictated by what the radio or the media is force-feeding him," said Dan McCarroll, president of Warner Bros. Records.

批評家們指出，音樂和閱讀清單體現了奧巴馬的自信。"這份播放列表充滿自信，非常酷，裏面的曲目絕對不是廣播電臺或媒體灌輸給他的那些，"華納兄弟唱片公司總裁達恩·麥卡羅爾說道。