[protected-iframe id=”afcac5c061f1840d190c42eca206f659-60970621-24270677″ info=”https://eliotvb.cartodb.com/viz/971d1556-0959-11e5-b1a4-0e9d821ea90d/embed_map” width=”100%” height=”520″ frameborder=”0″ webkitallowfullscreen=”” mozallowfullscreen=”” allowfullscreen=””]
It seems like, with each passing day, one of the big-time music streaming services currently duking it out over your love and subscriptions announces a new change or addition to their service. Spotify has playlists to suit your mood; Tidal has killer sound quality; Apple Music has everything. It’s an arms race in which the combatants do battle with Taylor Swift exclusives, Drake video premieres, and family plans.
The latest move is by Spotify, who unveiled its Musical Map of the World today.
The Musical Map of the World is an interactive tool that allows you to see what people are listening to in different parts of the world. The map zeroes in on 1,000 cities and contains playlists of each cities’ top songs, which are updated every two weeks and created by analyzing roughly 20 million tracks listened to by Spotify users around the world.
Planning a trip to lovely San Diego? You can now easily get hip with the Sublime-influenced and reggae-tinged music the locals are listening to. You know, if assimilating with locals is your thing. Maybe you’re wondering what the people of Greece are listening while they wait to see if their country will be evicted for not paying its bills? Is Detroit is only listening to Eminem on repeat (spoiler: they’re not), or is Philadelphia is rolling deep with their boy Meek Mill (spoiler: they are?).
Despite a few geographical errors (I’m pretty sure Bogota, Columbia isn’t in New York City and Brentwood, Calif. is not on Long Island), the map is endlessly interesting, whether or not you’re simply curious about what other people are listening to, or just looking for new music you wouldn’t normally be turned on to. It’s cool from an analytical perspective, too. Spotify learned that hip-hop, not girls, runs the world, as it showed up on the most playlists and transcended languages and culture. Locals rule, too, as results show that people are loyal to acts from their area, regardless of genre.
Your move, Apple Music.
