Hit Song Science

Hit Song Science is a term coined by Mike McCready and trademarked by the company he co-founded, Polyphonic HMI. It concerns the possibility of predicting whether a song will be a hit, prior to its distribution using automated means such as machine learning software.

Scientific background

The scientific nature of Hit Song Science is a subject of debate in the music information retrieval (MIR) community. Early studies claimed that using machine learning techniques could capture some information from audio signals and lyrics that would explain[1] popularity. However, a larger-scale evaluation[2] contradicts the claims of “Hit Song Science”, i.e. that the popularity of a music title can be learned effectively from known audio features. Many other reasons, including the well known "cumulative advantage" or preferential attachment effects deeply contradicts[3] the possibility of practical applications. Nevertheless, automatic prediction techniques are the basis of hit counseling businesses (HSS Technology).

Commercial applications

A technology proposing to exploit Hit Song Science was introduced in 2003 by an artificial intelligence company out of Barcelona, Spain, called Polyphonic HMI. Polyphonic HMI has since spun off a new Delaware C corporation, Music Intelligence Solutions, Inc., which used to run uPlaya, a site geared toward music professionals. In 2006 however one of the company's founders, Mike McCready left to pursue another direction in the digital music space. The idea of Hit Song Science has generated response from many in the music industry, including Chuck D,[4] Robert Lamm, Stratton Leopold,[5] Gregg Scholl of The Orchard,[6] and officials at The Sync Agency[7] as well as Blue Infinity Music. Prior to McCready's departure, Hit Song Science was profiled by NBC,[8] BBC[9] and various major news outlets. The plot line of an episode of "Numb3rs"[10] was inspired by the technology. Music Intelligence Solutions, Inc., is using Hit Song Science as a basis for several contests done in partnership with organizations such as AllHipHop.com, Urban Latino and American Songwriter magazine, and claims to have predicted the commercial success of Norah Jones's debut album, Come Away with Me, (which won a Grammy for Best Album) and Ben Novak's debut single, "Turn Your Car Around", which reached the number 12 spot in the UK Top 40 charts.[11]

Similar technologies are now emerging with companies such as Mixcloud, MusicXray, and BandMetrics who are using their technologies. Mixcloud is working with Queen Mary Technologies.

References

  1. ↑ Dhanaraj, R. and Logan, B. Automatic Prediction of Hit Songs, Proc. of Ismir 2005, London, UK
  2. ↑ Pachet, F. and Roy, P. (2008) Hit Song Science is Not Yet a Science. Proceedings of Ismir 2008, pages 355-360, Philadelphia, USA
  3. ↑ Pachet, F. (2011) Hit Song Science. In Tao, Tzanetakis & Ogihara, editor, Music Data Mining, CRC Press/Chapman Hall
  4. ↑ XXLmag.com: Chuck D and uPlaya Analyze Hit Songs
  5. ↑ Stratton Leopold to Advisory Board
  6. ↑ Music Intelligence Solutions Partners with The Orchard
  7. ↑ Music Intelligence Solutions Partners with The Sync Agency
  8. ↑ NBC Network News Feature on uPlaya
  9. ↑ BBC News Report
  10. ↑ Episode of "Numb3rs" Inspired by Hit Song Science
  11. ↑ Ben Novak's debut single enters the UK Top 40 chart at number 12
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