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Evaluation and Prediction of Harmonic Complexity Across 76 Years of Billboard 100 Hits

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Music, Mind, and Embodiment (CMMR 2015)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 9617))

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Abstract

This study applies a novel computational strategy—Jensen Chroma Complexity (JCC)—to develop robust harmonic profiles of music recordings. This feature has been calculated on all US Billboard Top 100 hits across a 76-year period (n = 6,494). Results indicate a clear historical trajectory of harmonic profiles, with strong predictability. From the 1940s is a sustained increase in JCC that nearly doubles, peaking in the 1980s, and gradually decreasing into the 21st century. Each decade was also determined to correlate to a statistically distinctive harmonic profile. The findings presented here corroborate the effectiveness of JCC in generating robust harmonic profiles that enable identification of the approximate year in which a hit song was popularized.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aalborg University, A.C. Meyers Vænge 15, 2450, Copenhagen SV, Denmark

    Kristoffer Jensen

  2. Grieg Academy, Bergen University College, Lars Hilles Gate 3, 5015, Bergen, Norway

    David G. Hebert

Authors
  1. Kristoffer Jensen
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  2. David G. Hebert
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Correspondence to Kristoffer Jensen .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. CNRS - LMA, Marseille Cedex 20, France

    Richard Kronland-Martinet

  2. CNRS - LMA, Marseille, France

    Mitsuko Aramaki

  3. CNRS - LMA, Marseille, France

    Sølvi Ystad

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Jensen, K., Hebert, D.G. (2016). Evaluation and Prediction of Harmonic Complexity Across 76 Years of Billboard 100 Hits. In: Kronland-Martinet, R., Aramaki, M., Ystad, S. (eds) Music, Mind, and Embodiment. CMMR 2015. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 9617. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46282-0_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46282-0_18

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-46281-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-46282-0

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