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{{Short description|Music description and organization project}}
{{Recommender systems}}
The '''Music Genome Project''' is a musical analysis project seeking to "capture the essence of [[music]] at the most fundamental level" using various attributes to describe songs and mathematics to connect them together into an interactive map. The Music Genome Project covers five music genres: Pop/Rock, Hip-Hop/Electronica, Jazz, World Music, and Classical.

Any given song is represented by approximately 450 "genes" ([[analogy|analogous]] to trait-determining [[gene]]s for [[organisms]] in the field of [[genetics]]). Each gene corresponds to a characteristic of the music, for example, ''gender of lead vocalist'', ''prevalent use of groove'', ''level of distortion on the electric guitar'', ''type of background vocals'', etc. [[Rock music|Rock]] and [[Pop music|pop]] songs have 150 genes, [[Rap music|rap]] songs have 350, and [[jazz]] songs have approximately 400. Other genres of music, such as [[world music|world]] and [[classical music|classical]] music, have 300–450<ref name="Pandora about">{{cite web |title=About The Music Genome Project |url=http://www.pandora.com/about/mgp |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814183042/https://www.pandora.com/about/mgp |archive-date=2014-08-14 |access-date=17 August 2014 |website=Pandora Internet Radio}}</ref> genes. The system depends on a sufficient number of genes to render useful results. Each gene is assigned a number between 0 and 5, in half-integer increments.<ref name=patent> {{US Patent| 7003515}} </ref> The Music Genome Project's database is built using a methodology that includes the use of precisely defined terminology, a consistent frame of reference, redundant analysis, and ongoing quality control to ensure that data integrity remains reliably high.<ref name="Pandora about"/>

Given the vector of one or more songs, a list of other similar songs is constructed using what the company calls its "matching algorithm". Each song is analyzed by a musician in a process that takes 20 to 30 minutes per song.<ref>{{Cite web  | last = Ike | first = Elephant | title = Tiny Mix Tapes: Tim Westergren Interview | url= http://www.tinymixtapes.com/features/tim-westergren-music-genome-project-founder | date = February 2006 | access-date = 30 May 2013 }}</ref> Ten percent of songs are analyzed by more than one musician to ensure conformity with the in-house standards and [[reliability (statistics)|statistical reliability]].

The Music Genome Project was first conceived by Will Glaser in late 1999, and populated with musicological input from [[Tim Westergren]] in early 2000. In January 2000, they joined forces with [[Jon Kraft]] to found Savage Beast Technologies to bring their idea to market.<ref>{{cite interview| url=http://www.venturevoice.com/2009/03/vv_show_54_tim_westergren_of_p.html |first=Tim |last=Westergren |subject-link=Tim Westergren |date=March 9, 2009 |title=VV Show #54 - Tim Westergren of Pandora |access-date=2011-06-26 |interviewer=Greg Galant |work=Venture Voice}}</ref>
The Music Genome Project was developed in its entirety by Pandora Media and remains the core technology used for [[Pandora Radio]], its [[internet radio]] service. Although there was a time when the company licensed this technology for use by others, today it is limited for use only by its users.

==Intellectual property==
"Music Genome Project" is a registered [[trademark]] in the United States. The mark is owned by the company Pandora Media, Inc.<ref>[http://tess2.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=e3mah4.2.1 "Music Genome Project" US Trademark: No. 2731047] [[United States Patent Office]]</ref>

The Music Genome Project is covered by {{US Patent| 7003515}} which shows William T. Glaser, Timothy B. Westergren, Jeffrey P. Stearns, and Jonathan M. Kraft as the inventors of this technology. The patent has been assigned to Pandora Media, Inc.  With that initial patent filed, most of the intellectual property associated with Glaser's founding algorithm remains a trade secret to this day. 

The full list of attributes for individual songs is not publicly released, and ostensibly constitutes a [[trade secret]].{{cn|date=July 2019}}

==See also==
*[[Moodbar]]
*[[MusicBrainz]]
*[[Pandora Radio]]
*[[WhoSampled]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
*{{Citation
  | last =Castelluccio | first =Michael
  | title = The Music Genome Project
  | journal = Strategic Finance
  | volume = 88
  | issue = 6
  | pages = 57&ndash;58
  | date = December 2006
  | issn = 1524-833X }}
*{{Citation 
	|last=Jennings |first=David  
	|title= Net, Blogs and Rock 'N' Roll: How Digital Discovery Works and What it Means for Consumers, Creators and Culture 
	|year=2007 
	|publisher=Nicholas Brealey Pub. 
	|location=London, UK; Boston, MA
	|isbn=978-1-85788-398-5 
	|oclc=145379643}}
*{{Citation
 |last         = John
 |first        = Joyce
 |title        = Pandora and the Music Genome Project
 |journal      = Scientific Computing
 |volume       = 23
 |issue        = 10
 |pages        = 14, 40&ndash;41
 |date         = September 2006
 |url          = http://scientificcomputing.com/pandora-and-the-music-genome-project.aspx?terms=music%20genome
 |issn         = 1930-5753
 |access-date   = 2008-08-03
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20120216033952/http://scientificcomputing.com/pandora-and-the-music-genome-project.aspx?terms=music%20genome
 |archive-date = 2012-02-16
 |url-status   = dead
}}
*{{cite news |title=The Song Decoders at Pandora|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/magazine/18Pandora-t.html |access-date=November 23, 2012 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 14, 2009 |first=Rob |last=Walker}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [http://www.pandora.com/about/mgp "The Music Genome Project"]—short historical statement by Tim Westergren
* [http://ip.com/patent/US7003515 Patent Number 7003515—Consumer item matching method and system]
* [http://tweedmag.com/News/Pandora_Opening_a_Better_Box.html Early interview with Tim Westergren about the Music Genome Project and Pandora]
*[https://twit.tv/shows/netnight/episodes/6 Inside the Net Interview with Tim Westergren of Pandora Media]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070327024651/http://www.downloadsquad.com/2007/03/23/download-squad-interview-tim-westergren-of-pandora/ Interview with Tim Westergren] March 23, 2007
* [http://intruders.tv/en-music/2009/12/16/interview-with-tim-westergren-the-story-behind-pandora/ Interview with Tim Westergren about the Music Genome Project and Pandora] video
* [https://sites.google.com/site/thefirstmusicofgenes/home The first music of genes by Jean-claude Perez 1994 SACEM GEN0694]

[[Category:Online music and lyrics databases]]