Big Data's Impact on Music

This week Real Life Mag published an excellent article delving into how music streaming services are using big data to "transform the way we think about format and genre in pop music." The article tracks the evolution of programming, from the emergence of genre-hopping radio stations through the rise of the ever-important playlist - which streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify program using carefully designed algorithms. The article purports that these "Psychometric approaches to pop music don't just affect how we classify it; they restructure the way we abstract from artworks and sensations to our ideas, thoughts, and concepts about art". Read more about the effect and impact of big data on today's music formats and genres here.