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Machine Learning and MP3s

Posted by Hemos on from the the-right-song-for-the-right-time dept.

dan moore writes "Students at Caltech and Harvard have developed a system that analyzes playlists and learns people's listening patterns. It then channels its knowledge into generating streams of music that the people themselves would like to listen to. Intuitive, accurate, and finally someone has done it. Check out the website to get one of the available plugins. Another interesting approach to digital music."

8 of 228 comments (clear)

  1. Others... by moeffju · · Score: 5, Informative

    For other programs that do this already, look for RoboDJ or AudioScrobbler. Lots of others exist.

    Yet none get the job done right.

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    1. Re:Others... by foxcub · · Score: 3, Informative

      I geuss you could add GJay to the list...

    2. Re:Others... by cgroom · · Score: 3, Informative

      Surprisingly, matching on the frequency distribution between two songs gives a decent match between songs. A pure fingerprint match aligns songs which use the same spectrum range, which generally translates to similiar mood and instruments. This is of course not enough to go on, which is why GJay will also factor in the BPM, user 'color' rating (if supplied), and how you filed the songs in the first place. The spooky thing is that GJay tends to do a very good job at generating playlists with little prior knowledge of your listening habits. (Caveat: as the author, I'm biased). I'm sorry I haven't gotten around to a Windows version. If there's interest/help, it's definately a possibility.

  2. Re:But people are lazy... by chickens · · Score: 5, Informative

    "find out what other people who really like this song listen to" programs..
    Methinks you'd like audioscrobbler, which is somewhat like firefly

  3. Re:Random playing by iksowrak · · Score: 5, Informative

    I just found out about the plugin from /. this morning and haven't read up much on it yet, but it appears to factor in how long each song is played. So if you're like me and have Winamp on random play but skip over (or partway through) songs I don't feel like listening to, the plugin will still do its work.

  4. Already Exists! by captainclever · · Score: 3, Informative

    There is already something like this out there, that uses loads of cool independant and smaller label stuff as well as some massive label stuff..

    Check out Last.FM, they are very good. I've found a load of new artists from there. It is all stream based (128kbps) and they have a massive flash development section starting for open source goodness.

    There's also the (all open source) Audioscrobbler project.. see my .sig :)

    RJ

    --
    Last.fm - join the social music revolution
  5. Smart Playlists? by ihatewinXP · · Score: 3, Informative

    Another 'cutting edge playlist technology" would certainly be iTunes 'smart playlists.' You can match any number of criteria, including: genre, my rating, play count, artist contains *, and year to make sick and incredibly easy playlists. Oh and live updating, perfect for running a PlayCount: Zero and then having it add new unplayed tracks as you listen. At first I didnt notice it but after tinkering around I now wonder what I ever did before (but then again I get that feeling alot using apple products).

    Check it out: http://www.apple.com/itunes/smartplaylists.html

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  6. Re:this guy is one to watch... by Hal-9001 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Dunno, but I've heard anecdotally (and the anecdotes were supported by a quick Google search) that he's on Caltech's ACM programming team, so he's definitely one smart cookie.

    Also, he has a Slashdot account: SkyIce

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