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AI Bots Pick The Hits of Tomorrow

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the so-why-is-there-never-anything-good-on-the-radio dept.

Wolverine Inspector writes "The Music Industry uses a product called HSS (Hit Song Science) made by Spain's Polyphonic HMI. According to The Guardian "while no one's talking about it, it seems that the whole record industry is already using AI to choose hits. From unsigned acts dreaming in their garage, to multinationals such as Sony and Universal, everyone is clandestinely using a new and controversial technology to gain an edge on their competitors." Even though it costs about $5,200 US/$6,500, many artists are starting to buy it to help them write succesfull songs."

8 of 510 comments (clear)

  1. More white bread, please! by grub · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That's just great.

    Remember how video card manufacturers were tweaking their drivers to perform well in benchmarks? "Musicians", and I use that term loosely, will be tweaking their songs to score a "hit" on this service.
    FTA: Those "leftfield", illogical and grassroots-inspired departures from the norm, such as disco or drum and bass, could not have been predicted - but they shift the mainstream and provide the momentum any culture needs to remain fresh.
    Right, but it will be harder than ever to produce something out of the mainstream when a record exec will look only at the score on HSS and potential effect on the bottom line.
    FTA: As Smith says, "Art is the one area where people can, and should be able to, make radical statements. Anything that encourages safe, consensus-driven music should be used with caution."
    Art for art's sake is virtually a thing of the past. Prepare for more of the same on the FM dial! (thank goodness for etunes.com)
    --
    Trolling is a art,
    1. Re:More white bread, please! by CaptainZapp · · Score: 5, Insightful
      "Musicians", and I use that term loosely, will be tweaking their songs to score a "hit" on this service.

      Sure, but so what? Same as you are not forced to eat crappy processed food you don't need to buy this homogenized shit.

      Sure, something gets lost along the lines. Creativity? Kharma? Soul? I don't really know, but unfortunately this change happened after the last of the titans in the music business left the ship and where replaced by young, aggressive, MBA schooled and Excel knowledged executives, who don't really give a shit if they're moving laundry detergent, softdrinks or, well, culture [for lack of a better word].

      The somewhat cheering thought is that we will always have good music around (currently Tom Waits: Blue Valentine, but I digress) and there will always be good new bands, song writers, arrangers and musicians.

      The difference between them and the mainstream will be that while they don't necessarilly shun technology they sure as hell won't use "hit"-writer software, or those gizmos that "clean" mistakes in human vocals.

      I totally agree with your assessment. Just wanted to add some perspective and maybe a more joyful outlook on what is to come.

      --
      ich bin der musikant

      mit taschenrechner in der hand

      kraftwerk

    2. Re:More white bread, please! by garcia · · Score: 5, Interesting

      But in time, these predictions have always proved wrong.

      The music industry has proven again and again that "time" no longer matters. Bands like The Stones, Aerosmith, etc, are all a thing of the past. They don't need them. They want acts like Spears, Maroon5, etc who rise to the top of the charts quickly through marketing, consolidation, and payoffs, and who are only there for a short time before the next big thing hits.

      Touring, actual music playing, and actual singing are overrated. The HSS printout says so.

      Just tweak this, this, and this. Add a synth here, here, and here. We have a hit. Two hits, maybe three, and we can continue to whine that we don't make any money because we spent it all marketing something that died after 3 years.

    3. Re:More white bread, please! by grub · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I totally agree with your assessment. Just wanted to add some perspective and maybe a more joyful outlook on what is to come.

      Yeah, if slashdot had a "+1, Cynical" rating my karma would be through the stratosphere. The only radio I listen to nowadays is AM news & weather. Most mainstream music isn't my cup of tea although there's a good university station here that plays some neat bands.

      In my original post I mentioned etunes.com. I meant emusic.com, I've found a lot of really decent smaller bands there I would never have heard of had I gone to the standard CD mall-store or listened to the mainstream radio. Mind you, my favourite band is Motorhead so my observations on art and music should be taken with a grain of salt ;)

      --
      Trolling is a art,
    4. Re:More white bread, please! by Mr.Zong · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Uh, we did read both links right?

      This thing picked Norah Jones. Frankly, shes damn talented, and is quite the opposite of this modern day radio crap fest. If anything, this app seems to be telling the brain dead execs that the crap your playing sells well initally, but if you put out quility (like jones) you don't need the marketing blitz (which she didn't get) and you don't need to reinvent the market every year.

      You would think the /. crowd would know better then to guess the outcome of data mining and pattern recognition applications(Look at me! I know how the ANN got it's answer!).

      Lets not forget, the program his to be smarter then those execs making the decisions. It's not possible for it be dumber. Its really not.

  2. Sigh by Nastard · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Remember the good old days when the listeners picked the hits?

    Next up: bots that generate pop music.

    1. Re:Sigh by Nastard · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, the record companies contract people to go and give monetary "incentives" to radio stations to get their picks put into heavier rotation (or into rotation at all). The station plays the song and calls it "hot", and the listeners, all eager to be hip and fresh and on the cutting edge of music, hear the word "hot" and jump all over it.

      Or in some cases, people just hear the same song so many times that it becomes familiar and eventually enjoyable.

      The point, though, is that you're given a multiple choice test when it comes to picking the music you like, and the record companies want to ensure as few choices as possible, and that whichever you pick belongs to them.

  3. Analize this by Elphin · · Score: 5, Funny
    From the website:
    • The first step in the process for our technologies is to analyze a representative sample of music (up to date we have
    • analized more than 1 Million tracks)
    Analized? Analized? - what dedication these folks have. Brings tears to my eyes.