Major Music Labels Use AI software to determine "hit" songs

[peter2002]

Here is a really fascinating news story:

February 24, 2003 (Barcelona, Spain)— Have you ever wondered why some songs burn up and down the charts in record time while others have a slower climb, tend to linger and then slowly fall? Have you ever wondered why some songs that seem to have "hit" written all over them do not perform as expected while others seem to come out of nowhere and become monster successes? Science would say the reasons can be found in the mathematical properties of the music and which mathematical patterns produce certain feelings and reactions to what we hear.

Polyphonic HMI, based in Barcelona, Spain has developed an artificial intelligence application that helps music labels determine the hit potential of music prior to its release. The new application is to music what x-rays are to medicine, allowing labels to see mathematical patterns and structures in music that until now have been hidden. Not being able to see these patterns in the past has meant that a lot of money gets spent on promoting singles and albums that do not have what it takes.

http://mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=48160

http://www.polyphonichmi.com/

 

[howard]

wow thats really weird...i'd really like to test that out myself, see more how it works

 

[Kid Red]

Yea, then most rock groups wouldn't make money, as we remember rock music (or metal) kills plants. So, I guess the songs wouldn't sell well because the sounds would make the listeners commit suicide or go on a violent rampage.

This would mostly be true to pop music unless they also test to see if RadioHead makes you want to roll on X.

 

[springscansing]

That's idiotic. You cannot have a computer tell if a song will be a hit or not. And believe me, I am doing PLENTY of stuff with computer aided music.

What they are saying simply isn't possible. If a human cannot tell if a song will be a hit, how can a human program a machine to tell if a song will be a hit?

And don't give me that x-ray analogy bull****.

If you feed it a Van Halen song, and the computer gives it the thumbs up, will it do well in the marketplace?

Don't be ridiculous.

 

[LethalWolfe]

Originally posted by springscansing
That's idiotic. You cannot have a computer tell if a song will be a hit or not. And believe me, I am doing PLENTY of stuff with computer aided music.

What they are saying simply isn't possible. If a human cannot tell if a song will be a hit, how can a human program a machine to tell if a song will be a hit?

And don't give me that x-ray analogy bull****.

If you feed it a Van Halen song, and the computer gives it the thumbs up, will it do well in the marketplace?

Don't be ridiculous.

This reminds me of Dead Poet's Society when one of the students books tells them how use a graph to determine the quality of a poem.

But I think you are going a bit over board springscansing. For years companies have studied people's reactions and preferences when presented various shapes and colors to determine visually what people find most pleasing. This just sounds like an automated audio version of that. I'm sure some entertainers will use it to tweak their songs, but I doubt it will be popular w/the musicians.


Lethal

 

[FelixDerKater]

Take a few platinum albums, run them through that software, and see how many of they say they can't be hits.

 

[FelixDerKater]

Now that I think about it, that may be why so many of the songs and artists out now suck so much. The quality artists and songs got slapped down by the computer.

 

[beatle888]

Originally posted by LethalWolfe
I think you are going a bit over board springscansing.

the obvious noted.

 

[mymemory]

It make a lot of sense

I do believe there can be a soft that can calculate certain parameter of a song. Now, of course that would be prior the album release, the record company has a lot to do there but it can be calculated.


Now, if you own a record label and can not diferenciate a hit from a failure... the problem is the record label, not the song.

 

[springscansing]

Originally posted by LethalWolfe
This reminds me of Dead Poet's Society when one of the students books tells them how use a graph to determine the quality of a poem.

But I think you are going a bit over board springscansing. For years companies have studied people's reactions and preferences when presented various shapes and colors to determine visually what people find most pleasing. This just sounds like an automated audio version of that. I'm sure some entertainers will use it to tweak their songs, but I doubt it will be popular w/the musicians.


Lethal

Shapes and colors are not a song. Guaranteed you'll run hit records through their and the computer will say they suck.

Whatever, this discussion is stupid. It's very obvious that's a load of crap. I'm going to lie down.. I have a nasty stomach virus.

And Beetle, you're still an idiot.

*harshness off*

 

[howard]

Originally posted by FelixDerKater
Now that I think about it, that may be why so many of the songs and artists out now suck so much. The quality artists and songs got slapped down by the computer.

couldn't have said it better myself your now my personal hero

 

[LethalWolfe]

Originally posted by springscansing
Shapes and colors are not a song. Guaranteed you'll run hit records through their and the computer will say they suck.

Whatever, this discussion is stupid. It's very obvious that's a load of crap. I'm going to lie down.. I have a nasty stomach virus.

And Beetle, you're still an idiot.

*harshness off*

Very good. Shapes and colors are not a song. Not that I ever said they were, but that's beside the point.

Ever heard of the golden ratio or golden rectangle? First used by Mother Nature and since used creatively by artists and architects for thousands of years. What that computer program probably does is analyze the song and determine how close it comes to a sonic golden ratio. This has nothing to do necessarily w/how "good" the song is but how sonically pleasing it is to the human ear.

For someone who's done PLENTY of audio work it sounds like you haven't spent much time "listening" to music (on a sonic level) and tried discovering why somethings work and somethings don't. Making a "hit song" isn't rocket science, it's a formula. Just look at Ms. Spears and N'Sync. Now making a quality song... that's something completly different.

Just an FYI, if you take examples from Mozart's music, da Vinci's paintings, and the Egyptian pyramids you'll find the golden ratio present in all of them.


Lethal

 

[The Sheck]

Originally posted by springscansing That's idiotic. You cannot have a computer tell if a song will be a hit or not.

And people wonder why the record industry is going in the crapper...

 

[FelixDerKater]

Another reasonable question would be whether or not it compensates for tastes in international markets, such as Europe, Asia, and elsewhere.

 

[iGav]

I'd put it down more to the likes of MTV playing the same crap videos 20 times a day.....