Computer Chooses Best Songs For Dancing

Dan Kopf tells us: ‘When “Funkytown” comes on at a wedding, you can’t help but dance, right? What about Nelly’s “Hot in Herre” or “Bad Girls” by Donna Summer? If your answer to any of those is no, you have defied computer science. (Also, I don’t want you at my party.) Those songs are among the most “danceable” number-one hits in the history of pop, according to new research from Columbia Business School and French business school INSEAD, using data from Billboard and audio-tech company Echonest. Developed by students at the MIT Media Lab and owned by Spotify, Echonest uses digital processing technology to identify

attributes of songs, such as valence, instrumentation, and key signature (pdf). The company created a proprietary algorithm to determine the “danceability” of a song based on its tempo and beat regularity. The calculation emphasizes the ability to dance throughout the whole song, so a bridge that even briefly changes the mood is highly penalized.’

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