A MUSIC SEARCH ENGINE TO REWARD MUSIC LISTENERS ENGAGED IN A QUEST FOR MUSIC
Originally a series of mechanisms for organizing information discovered on the internet, general search engines constantly create economic value through searches, notably via the discovery of new information. However, they are not perfect yet, for instance they cannot interpret ordinary language queries, as they do not understand semantic ambiguities. That is why, typing ‘What music is similar to Rhapsody in Blue by George Gershwin?’, a music listener receives, as main results, links towards music services including Rhapsody in Blue, pages presenting Rhapsody in Blue and websites talking about George Gershwin. But of course they do not receive any music title whose content is similar to Rhapsody in Blue, musically speaking.
What does this mean? That search technologies are still evolving: new uses and new applications unceasingly appear in all fields of knowledge. In the domain of music, it is to allievate the shortcomings of general search engines that the YMusic search engine, currently under prototyping, has been designed. Indeed, YMusic, based on a new music theory, offers musical tools that music listeners can use in order to acquire musical knowledge related to pieces of music they listen to. Search after search, music listeners discover more about why they love specific pieces of music and do not like others, exploring their individual preferences. YMusic wants to present musical content that is searchable in musical terms.
Would the ultimate search engine anticipate users’ queries, answering them before they even ask? We prefer to leave aside such speculations. One thing is certain: music itself contains all kinds of information that are necessary to find music, beyond cultural metadata like genre or location. And YMusic, which has a database that currently includes 40 000 music titles, offers tools that can help music listeners to understand such musical information and transform it into knowledge that can guide them to discover more music they can really like, independently of any trends or networks.
Let us notice that the YMusic database is an evaluation corpus or test collection and that the results provided by YMusic are objective, as they are based on a music theory. But the effectiveness of the search also depends on users’ choices. One of the functions of YMusic is to assist music listeners to express their wants and needs in musical terms instead of words. The interaction between the application interface and the music listener differs according to the complexity of the musical task the listener wants to accomplish. The YMusic algorithm can analyze the musical content of each music title present in the database and comparisons between specific pieces can be established at the musical level. Used on a regular basis, it can become an essential component of music listeners’ everyday life, one source of search value being, of course, time saved. When they are searching for music in the YMusic database, music listeners give information about themselves and they get rewards in the form of new music that they could not find so easily without YMusic.