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Is Big Data Killing Good Music? [Video]

Written by Sonicbids Staff | Jan 6, 2015 03:00 PM

Image via stltoday.com

Digital data is influencing the music being created, reports The Atlantic's Derek Thompson in "The Shazam Effect," calling an artist's placement on charts compiled by platforms like Shazam a musical "credit score." "This tool that we use just to discover new music has become a tool that the music industry uses to shape the future [of] pop music," says Thompson. "That is the Shazam Effect."

What does this mean for the music industry landscape, and how does it affect the sound of music? Watch the video below and find out.

How the music industry uses big data to create the next big hit:

02:18 - Shazam CEO Rich Riley on the platform's importance

03:29 - Do listeners even realize what's happening?

03:44 - How Next Big Sound tries to interpret the data

04:39 - Data collection, historically speaking

05:40 - Big data's impact on the music itself

06:51 - Making (and predicting) hits by analyzing data

07:10 - Shazam's next moves 

 

What do you think the long-term impact of big data might be on the music industry and music itself? Share your thoughts in the comments below!