the secret life of a dataphile - keeping tracks
DESCRIPTION
A talk in three parts - metadata from a market, data and technical perspective. Speakers : Decibel Music Systems As part of the British Library's Keeping Tracks symposium on music and archives in the digital age. 21.03.14 http://britishlibrary.typepad.co.uk/music/2014/04/keeping-tracks.htmlTRANSCRIPT
The Secret Life of a DataPhileEvan SteinMark WainwrightGeorgiana Bogdan
Decibel Music Systems
PART 1
A Life in Search
Evan SteinDecibel Music Systems
The Talk
Evan Stein: Introduction – Reasons for Decibel as a product
Mark Wainwright: Technical issues with music metadata
Georgiana Bogdan: Metadata collection and processing
What is Decibel?
Fact-based metadata system Social / buying-based recommendations (e.g., Amazon)
Sound / mood-based recommendations (e.g., EchoNest)
Fact-based navigation (e.g., MusicBrainz, Gracenote)
Data and search provided through an API White-label services for customers’ products
Navigate collections through linked information
Furnish information, sleeve-note equivalent and file tagging
Repertoire, artist and recording normalisation
Insane level of detail
Decibel at work
A bit of history
Musician
Library of Congress
Studies in Musicology Switch to computers, thanks to Fernando Pessoa
Manhattan DA
Standard & Poor’s
Decibel
Library work
Classification
Retrieval (by classification)
LC / Dewey Decimal, metadata
Knowledge of the domain is a key to good work
There are human databases walking about
Musicology
Catalogues and classifications
Works
Instruments
Eras, genres, styles
Biography
Ways of thinking about music
Repertoire, theory, performance practice
Sociology, anthropology, psychology, linguistics
Correlation with other art forms
Performers
Law enforcement
Data for hypothesis-formation
Unknown start and end
Non-linear search
Multiple languages, phonetics, semantics
Linkage
Finance
Normalisation
Language
Workflow
Currency
Formulas
Why the British Library?
Fact based systems are good for research You don’t know what the user wants to know until they want to
know it
Data-based thinking allows you to follow your train of thought
Good for navigating collections Improvements in bandwidth and storage
Personal collections are getting larger
Stores and services are also collections
Library collections are being digitised, and physically smaller
Digitisation
Information extracted from artefact (record, book, video, etc.)
Cons Possible lack of context and background
Ignores the artefact
Pros “Good enough” for most uses
Can be consumed anywhere
PART 2
Asking a Lot
Mark WainwrightDecibel Music Systems
Relational
Database
Graph Database
Data is ordered by association
Data types are flexible
Relationships receive special
treatment
Relationships are treated as
data
Data is stored in distinct tables
Graph Database Features
Polymorphism More detail without affecting performance
Recursive Relationships Results are more complete
Associative Structure More interesting questions
Album Artist Track
Album has one disc
Album is disc
Track
Sung
By a man
Married To
A woman
Whose Song
Is Performed
Relational Database: Organised by Type
Graph Database: Organised by Association
Graph Database
Polymorphism More detail without affecting performance
Recursive Relationships Results are more complete
Associative Structure More interesting questions
PART 3
Metadata Collection and Processing:A Data Detective’s Investigation
Georgiana BogdanDecibel Music Systems
Why do we collect metadata?
KEEP CALM
AND JOIN THE DIGITAL MUSIC
REVOLUTION!Source: IFPI Digital Music Report 2014
Why do we collect metadata?
Because few things matter more.
It is crucial for:
Artists
Music Listeners
Music Providers
Copyright Holders
Music Libraries & Archives
Who do we collect metadata for?
Music streaming services
Copyright Collection Society
App Developers
Online radio services
Record Labels
Other music industry players
Digital Music Stores
Music distributors
What metadata do we collect?
Comprehensive data model
Graph database for representing and storing data; API for delivering it
Rich data fields; mix of internet sources, research and editorial content
What metadata do we collect?
Artist
Place And Dates of
Birth (and Death)
Artist Biogra
phy
Nationality
Relationships
Album
Release label
Track Count
Duration
Album ContributionsRelease
Date and
Region
Genre
Release © and ℗
Cover Art
Track
GenreMixing Venue and Date
Publisher
Writer
Track ℗ details
Participants/
ArtistsMastering Venue and
Date
Recording Venue and
Date
Number
Performance Type
Duration
ISRC
How do we collect metadata?
Online legal sources (and the magic of computer programming!)
Research Team + Editorial Team. The Right People!
Data Partnerships
How do we keep our metadata evolving?
Keeping an eye on emerging music markets – data & content in local languages
Being aware of the music ecosystem; connecting with the industry players
Directly engaging with music industry professionals. Being social and sociable!
http://www.decibel.net@decibelnet
Evan [email protected]
Mark [email protected]
Georgiana [email protected]
How to contact us?