Those of you who know me probably know I’ve been working for years trying to solve the quality music filtering problem. There is just so much talent and so many songs already out there (and millions more being created each year) that it can’t all be evaluated for commercial deals the way it should be.
What I’ve learned is that nothing replaces the expert human ear when it comes to A&R. However, technology has emerged that can enhance the music industry’s human skills in much the same way a medical doctor’s skills are enhanced by the X-ray machine and other modernities. The X-ray machine doesn’t do the job of the doctor. It just gives the doctor additional information upon which better decisions can be made. Today, no one would consider seeing a doctor who doesn’t use state of the art technology.
So whether it has been using computers to help predict hit songs or developing an A&R platformthat harnesses state-of-the-art technology to help the industry perform better, solving the music filtering problem has been my passion for a long time.
I’ve been thinking about a clever way to describe Music Xray’s new Song to Opportunity (S₂O) Matching system and the best way I’ve come up with (so far) is that:
It turns your songs into opportunity magnets.
Or maybe it’s the match.com for songs and opportunities to find each other.
Maybe it’s the Pandora for A&R…
However we describe it, I think it’s pretty cool. You upload your songs for free and then sit back and wait to be alerted when an industry professional is seeking a song like yours. Give it a shot. The more songs you upload the more alerts you will get.
Here’s how it works:
1. Some of the hundreds of music industry professionals who use Music Xray to find songs and acts have given us a few “seed” songs. That is, songs that have a musical style and sound similar to what they would like to have submitted to them. For example, if they are seeking a new single for Britney Spears they might give us a few of her songs plus an additional song in the style and sound they are seeking.
2. Music Xray uses software to analyze the acoustic properties and underlying mathematical patterns of the “seed” songs and compares them to those in songs that have been uploaded for free into the company’s system by artists and rights holders.
3. Music Xray notifies the artists when there is a match between what professionals are seeking and the artists’ songs.
We’re not making any formal announcements nor really talking much about this while the service is in beta. Nevertheless, we’re thrilled that Music Xray is pushing the envelope. It’s the first enhanced A&R platform in the world. It harnesses cutting edge technology to enable the industry to filter through large quantities of music to find the most appropriate songs for each opportunity.
This is A&R on steroids.
Click here for more information.
