How we listen to musicPaul Lamere SXSW March 17, 2015 #HowListen

The Awesome Chart Explorer

Charts move into the digital age

#HowListen

Some cautionary words

The Who

#HowListen

The What

The When The Where

The How

The Why

The Who

#HowListen

The What

The When The Where

The How

The Why

What do we know about the user?

Age Gender Country

All user data anonymized

Spotify gender demographics

Female 46% Male

54%

Spotify age demographics Pe

rcen

tage

0

10

20

30

40

Age range0-12 13-17 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+

Demographic chartsWhat are the kids listening to these days?

#HowListen

1. Hate Bein' Sober - Chief Keef2. Marijuana - Kid Cudi 3. Buried Alive - Logic 4. Prayer Of The Refugee - Rise Against 5. Opposite Of Adults - Chiddy Bang

Distinctive tracks for an 18 year old US male

1. Ride - SoMo2. Young Blood - Bea Miller 3. How To Be A Heartbreaker - Marina and The Diamonds 4. Voodoo Doll - 5 Seconds Of Summer 5. House Party - Sam Hunt

Distinctive tracks for an 18 year old US female

1. L.A.LOVE (la la) - Fergie2. I Loved You - Blonde 3. Changing - Sigma 4. Let Her Go - Passenger 5. Promesses - Tchami

Distinctive tracks for an 18 year old UK female

1. Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival2. Gimme Shelter - The Rolling Stones 3. Into The Mystic - Van Morrison 4. Fire And Rain - James Taylor

Distinctive tracks for a 55 year old US male

How much music do we listen to?

How many artists and songs do we really listen to in a year?

#HowListen

What was on your iPod?

2006 study

Songs on your iPod 3,542

Active songs in your iPod 1,274

Never played 64%

2011 study

Songs on your iPod 5,409

Active songs in your iPod 1,214

Never played 78%

iTunes Registry Music WithMe

One Year on Spotify - 55 year-old male track listening

1309 unique tracks listened to in a year

155 tracks in heavy rotation in a year

One Year on Spotify - 55 year-old male artist listening

363 artists listened to in a year

53 artists in rotation in a year

One Year on Spotify - 12-17 year-old female artist listening

390 artists listened to in a year

69 artists in rotation in a year

What is in your Spotify?

55+ year old malesTracks in heavy rotation 155

Unique tracks played 1,309

Average plays per year 3,054

Artists in heavy rotation 53

Unique artists played 362

12-17 year old femalesTracks in heavy rotation 240

Unique tracks played 1,251

Average plays per year 4,823

Artists in heavy rotation 69

Unique artists played 390

1. Led Zeppelin2. Miles Davis 3. Bob Dylan 4. Bruce Springsteen 5. Eric Clapton

First artist listened to by a 55 year-old male

1. One Direction2. Beyoncé 3. Miley Cyrus 4. A Great Big World 5. Katy Perry

First artist listened to by a 12-17 year-old female

The Who

#HowListen

The What

The When The Where

The How

The Why

What do you play when you play a track?

The Track

The Album

The ArtistsThe ArtistsThe Artists

The ArtistsThe ArtistsThe Genres

The Contextsearch

playlist

radio

1. He's A Tramp - Peggy Lee 2. The Siamese Cat Song - Si and Am 3. I Wan'na Be Like You - Louis Prima 4. Singin' In The Rain- Gene Kelly 5. When You Wish Upon A Star - Louis Armstrong

Distinctive jazz tracks for a 12-17 year old female

The Who

#HowListen

The What

The When The Where

The How

The Why

Growth Charts

What’s climbing, what’s falling?

#HowListen

Listener growth

Carly Rae Jepsen

Selena GomezKanye West

Major Lazer

Demographic charts for specific time of day

How does our listening change over the course of a day?

#HowListen

1. Pink Moon- Nick Drake2. Wild World - Cat Stevens 3. Shine - Benjamin Francis Leftwich 4. Banner (Acoustic) - LIGHTS 5. You've Got A Friend - James Taylor

Distinctive morning tracks for a 55+ year old female

1. Healing Sleep Music - Deep Sleep2. Sleep Music - Binaural Beats Brainwave Entrainmen 3. Secret Zen - Classical Piano Music for Zen Meditation 4. 2/1 - 2004 Digital Remaster Brian Eno 5. Nocturne Best Studying Music- Calming Baby Sleep

Music Club

Distinctive late night tracks for a 55+ year old female

Exploring the rhythms of a city with music

these little town blues

#HowListen

One week of listening in New York City

One day of listening in New York City

One day of listening in New York City

One day of listening in London

Quiz: What day is this?

Spotify Listening on New Year’s Eve in New York City

1. Uptown Funk - Mark Ronson 2. Auld Lang Syne - Susan Boyle3. I Don't Fuck With You - Big Sean 4. Theme from New York, New York - Frank Sinatra 5. Auld Lang Syne - Mariah Carey

Top tracks played first in 2015

New Year’s Eve Listening in five cities

New Year’s Eve Listening in five cities

Superbowl Sunday Listening - February 2015

Music Analytics for Science

Comet 67P/Churymov-Gerasimenko#HowListen

Strange spikes detected

“Don’t want to miss a thing” - Aerosmith

Robotic lander Philae touched down on Comet 67P

“Close Shave” with Asteroid 2012 DA1

‘Potentially Hazardous Asteroid’ EM26 approaches

Rosetta spacecraft orbits Coment 67P

September Pi Orionids Philae landing site selected

This was the headline …

https://insights.spotify.com/us/2014/11/21/aerosmith-rosetta-comet/

But maybe the headline should have been …

https://insights.spotify.com/us/2014/11/21/aerosmith-rosetta-comet/

The Who

#HowListen

The What

The When The Where

The How

The Why

The sounds of the city

Distinctive listening by City

#HowListen

The Sound of New Orleans

• Cassanova - Rebirth Brass Band

• All On A Mardi Gras Day - The Wild Magnolias

• Mardi Gras In New Orleans - Professor Longhair

• I Feel Like Funkin' It Up - Extended Mix - Rebirth Brass Band

The Sound of Nashville

• Cover Me Up - Jason Isbell

• She Lit A Fire - Lord Huron

• Turtles All the Way Down - Sturgill Simpson

• Sedona - Houndmouth

The Sound of Laredo

• Someone Else Calling You Baby - Luke Bryan

• Te Llevare - Siggno

• ¿Por Qué Me Haces Llorar? - Juan Gabriel

• Aire - Intocable

Musical imports and exports

•Drake •Sam Smith •alt-j •Sia

Musical imports and exports

• Of Monsters and Men

• Ólafur Arnalds

• Sigur Rós

• Björk

Top Icelandic artist local favorites

• Bubbi Morthens

• Hjálmar

• Valdimar

• GusGus

The Who

#HowListen

The What

The When The Where

The How

The Why

How we listen in different contexts

Your favorite coffeehouse

#HowListen

One week of listening in New York CIty

US Weekly listening

Normalized US Coffee Listening

Normalized US Exercise Listening

Normalized US Party Listening

Finding artists with passionate fans

Using replays, tracks in rotation and plays per fan

#HowListen

Replays vs. the Age of the track - top 1,000 most popular songs

Let it GoIntro - the XX

Are You With Me River Flows In You

All Day

1. Box Fan Sound 2. White Noise 3. Waterfall 4. Brown Noise5. Pouring Rain

Most replayed deep tracks

Average artist tracks per fan

Grateful Dead

Glee Cast

Banda Sinaloense

Pierce the Veil

Artist passion by plays per fan

Grateful DeadGlee Cast

Banda Sinaloense

Pierce the Veil

Finding song hot spots based upon listening behavior

Some experimental work

#HowListen

Most ‘interesting’ bit at 3:29 to 3:45

Finding the hot spots in “In the air tonight”

Song cool spot: The psychedelic interlude

Song hot spot: The Guitar solo

Finding the hot spots in “Whole Lotta Love”

Hot spot:Synth Chorus

Cool spot:After the drop

Last Hot Spot:“And it’s over”

Finding the hot spots in “Raise your weapon”

The Who

#HowListen

The What

The When The Where

The How

The Why

Top playlist names on Spotify

Rap Country House Rock Music

ChillPartyWorkoutGymRoadtrip

Context is the new genre

17 of the top 100 playlist names are genre related

41 of the top 100 playlist names are context related

Top context-related playlistsChill Party Workout Relax Gym Dance Sleep Pregame Car Feel Good Roadtrip Summer Work Study Sex Pump up Night Drive Training Gaming Shower Ski Snowboarding Cafe Homework Twerk On the road Motivation School 420 Dinner Running Friends Sad XC School Yoga Winter Coffee Sleepy Flow Girls Night Commute Drinking Crossfit Break Up Inspiration Smoking Romance Afterski Preparty Beach Cardio Hike Fly Afternoon Happiness Training Walk Predrinks Office Cry Wake up Travel Fitness Focus Cleaning Cruising Lifting Evening Rainy Day Autumn Train Love Worship Depression Morning

Training and workoutChill Party Workout Relax Gym Dance Sleep Pregame Car Feel Good Roadtrip Summer Work Study Sex Pump up Night Drive Training Gaming Shower Ski Snowboarding Cafe Homework Twerk On the road Motivation School 420 Dinner Running Friends Sad XC School Yoga Winter Coffee Sleepy Flow Girls Night Commute Drinking Crossfit Break Up Inspiration Smoking Romance Afterski Preparty Beach Cardio Hike Fly Afternoon Happiness Training Walk Predrinks Office Cry Wake up Travel Fitness Focus Cleaning Cruising Lifting Evening Rainy Day Autumn Train Love Worship Depression Morning

Mood

Chill Party Workout Relax Gym Dance Sleep Pregame Car Feel Good Roadtrip Summer Work Study Sex Pump up Night Drive Training Gaming Shower Ski Snowboarding Cafe Homework Twerk On the road Motivation School 420 Dinner Running Friends Sad XC School Yoga Winter Coffee Sleepy Flow Girls Night Commute Drinking Crossfit Break Up Inspiration Smoking Romance Afterski Preparty Beach Cardio Hike Fly Afternoon Happiness Training Walk Predrinks Office Cry Wake up Travel Fitness Focus Cleaning Cruising Lifting Evening Rainy Day Autumn Train Love Worship Depression Morning

TravelChill Party Workout Relax Gym Dance Sleep Pregame Car Feel Good Roadtrip Summer Work Study Sex Pump up Night Drive Training Gaming Shower Ski Snowboarding Cafe Homework Twerk On the road Motivation School 420 Dinner Running Friends Sad XC School Yoga Winter Coffee Sleepy Flow Girls Night Commute Drinking Crossfit Break Up Inspiration Smoking Romance Afterski Preparty Beach Cardio Hike Fly Afternoon Happiness Training Walk Predrinks Office Cry Wake up Travel Fitness Focus Cleaning Cruising Lifting Evening Rainy Day Autumn Train Love Worship Depression Morning

Romance

Chill Party Workout Relax Gym Dance Sleep Pregame Car Feel Good Roadtrip Summer Work Study Sex Pump up Night Drive Training Gaming Shower Ski Snowboarding Cafe Homework Twerk On the road Motivation School 420 Dinner Running Friends Sad XC School Yoga Winter Coffee Sleepy Flow Girls Night Commute Drinking Crossfit Break Up Inspiration Smoking Romance Afterski Preparty Beach Cardio Hike Fly Afternoon Happiness Training Walk Predrinks Office Cry Wake up Travel Fitness Focus Cleaning Cruising Lifting Evening Rainy Day Autumn Train Love Worship Depression Morning

Time Chill Party Workout Relax Gym Dance Sleep Pregame Car Feel Good Roadtrip Summer Work Study Sex Pump up Night Drive Training Gaming Shower Ski Snowboarding Cafe Homework Twerk On the road Motivation School 420 Dinner Running Friends Sad XC School Yoga Winter Coffee Sleepy Flow Girls Night Commute Drinking Crossfit Break Up Inspiration Smoking Romance Afterski Preparty Beach Cardio Hike Fly Afternoon Happiness Training Walk Predrinks Office Cry Wake up Travel Fitness Focus Cleaning Cruising Lifting Evening Rainy Day Autumn Train Love Worship Depression Morning

FocusChill Party Workout Relax Gym Dance Sleep Pregame Car Feel Good Roadtrip Summer Work Study Sex Pump up Night Drive Training Gaming Shower Ski Snowboarding Cafe Homework Twerk On the road Motivation School 420 Dinner Running Friends Sad XC School Yoga Winter Coffee Sleepy Flow Girls Night Commute Drinking Crossfit Break Up Inspiration Smoking Romance Afterski Preparty Beach Cardio Hike Fly Afternoon Happiness Training Walk Predrinks Office Cry Wake up Travel Fitness Focus Cleaning Cruising Lifting Evening Rainy Day Autumn Train Love Worship Depression Morning

SocializingChill Party Workout Relax Gym Dance Sleep Pregame Car Feel Good Roadtrip Summer Work Study Sex Pump up Night Drive Training Gaming Shower Ski Snowboarding Cafe Homework Twerk On the road Motivation School 420 Dinner Running Friends Sad XC School Yoga Winter Coffee Sleepy Flow Girls Night Commute Drinking Crossfit Break Up Inspiration Smoking Romance Afterski Preparty Beach Cardio Hike Fly Afternoon Happiness Training Walk Predrinks Office Cry Wake up Travel Fitness Focus Cleaning Cruising Lifting Evening Rainy Day Autumn Train Love Worship Depression Morning

Let’s find music for a particular context by mining tracks from the 1.5 billion existing playlists

“Create a playlist of mainstream tracks good for running for an 55 year-old male”

Context is important, but …Context is hard!

The Playlist MinerQuery: Distinctive mainstream running songs for 55+ year-old male

tuesday runfast run

runningsongs for my run

running tunesmorning run

running

1.5 Billion Playlists

10,000 running playlists

“running”

The Playlist MinerQuery: Distinctive mainstream running songs for 55+ year-old male

tuesday runfast run

runningsongs for my run

running tunesmorning run

running

10,000 running playlists

aggregate tracks

100,000 ranked running songs1. Running on Empty - Jackson Browne 2. Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen 3. Gonna Fly Now (Rocky) - Bill Conti 4. Eye of the Tiger - Survivor 5. I Ran (So Far Away) - Flock of Seagulls

Filter tracks by demographics, popularity, etc.

The Playlist MinerQuery: Distinctive mainstream running songs for 55+ year-old male

100,000 ranked running songs1. Running on Empty - Jackson Browne 2. Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen 3. Gonna Fly Now (Rocky) - Bill Conti 4. Eye of the Tiger - Survivor 5. I Ran (So Far Away) - Flock of Seagulls

Filter tracks by demographics, popularity, etc.

1. Running on Empty - Jackson Browne 2. Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen 3. Gonna Fly Now (Rocky) - Bill Conti4. Eye of the Tiger - Survivor 5. I Ran (So Far Away) - Flock of Seagulls

Top 55+ year-old male Running tracks

Two old ladies are lying in a bed - Army Rangers

Hyper-distinctive 55+ male running track:

Top 18-24 year-old female Running tracks

1. Runaway Baby - Bruno Mars 2. I Just Wanna Run - The Downtown Fiction 3. Stronger - Kelly Clarkson4. Fighter - Christina Aguilera 5. Every chance we get we run - David Guetta

1. On the Road Again - Willie Nelson2. Running On Empty - Jackson Browne 3. Radar Love - Golden Earring 4. On the Road Again - Canned Heat 5. Ventura Highway - America

Top 55+ year-old male Roadtrip tracks

1. All Summer Long - Kid Rock 2. Beautiful Life - Union J 3. Superbad - Jesse McCarthy 4. Ride - JTR5. Rockstar - A Great Big World

Top 18-24 year-old female Roadtrip tracks

1. Love Me - The Little Willies 2. Let’s Get it On - Marvin Gaye 3. A Whiter Shade of Pale - Procol Harum4. Nobody Does it Better - Carly Simon 5. You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine - Lou Rawls

Top 55+ year-old male Sexy Time tracks

1. Love Faces - Trey Songz2. Take You Down - Chris Brown 3. Dive In - Trey Songz 4. Birthday Sex - Jeremih 5. Kisses Down Low - Kelly Rowland

Top 18-24 year-old female Sexy Time tracks

1. Cry Like a Baby - The Box Tops 2. The Heart of the Matter - Don Henley 3. Crying in the Rain - The Everly Brothers 4. Crying - Roy Orbison 5. Always on my Mind - Willie Nelson

Top 55+ year-old male Break Up tracks

1. F*ck It (I Don’t Want You Back) - Eamon 2. Too Little, Too Late - JoJo 3. Potential BreakUp Song - Aly & AJ4. Since U Been Gone - Kelly Clarkson 5. Leave (Get Out) - JoJo

Top 18-24 year-old female Break Up tracks

Making charts personal

Your year in music

#HowListen

The Who

#HowListen

The What

The When The Where

The How

The Why

How we listen to music

Paul Lamere @plamere #HowListen

http://spoti.fi/HowListenResources: