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Audio Analysis

Methodology

Audio Analysis is an emerging and rapidly developing technique for analyzing the inherent qualities in music, in order to recommend music based on common sound trends. Audio can be analyzed either by humans or by computers and each method has its pros and cons. When audio is analyzed by humans, such as is done by Pandora, professional music analysts listen to a track and label its many elements, including genre influences, time signature, tempo, harmonic tendencies, and instrumentation. On the other hand, computers, such as those used by Audiobaba or The Echo Nest, analyze audio by studying the sound waves for patterns in frequency and volume, using techniques such as digital signal processing, and in this way interpret qualities inherent in the audio.

Pros and Cons

Audio Analysis seems to be the ideal way to truly understand the nature of music. If a computer is able to analyze the inherent qualities of pieces of music, then it will be able to determine the similarities and differences between music, understand what qualities listeners like and dislike in music, and make very accurate recommendations to users. However, this technology is very new and not very well developed, and current implementations are inadequate at best. Trained human professionals are currently much better than modern software at understanding tendencies and patterns in audio. However, human value judgments are always prone to interpretation and error and therefore a computerized evaluation tool will eventually be statistically more accurate.