What started with a viz...
Since then I’ve made several more music-related vizzes including
- An analysis of Metallica albums
- Looking at how Weird Al Yankovic made his parody albums
- Analyzing the Rolling Stone’s list of 100 greatest heavy metal albums
Something familiar & something new
Here’s how it’s gonna go down – each month there will be a different challenge, topic, and/or dataset to explore. I may or may not already have 2 years worth of topics lined up! And because music is weaved through several areas and aspects of our lives – we’ll be collaborating with many of the existing dataviz projects out there
And in true creative fashion, I do not want to stifle any idea you might have.
If you have an idea for a music-related viz, then viz it! Whatever you viz, whenever you viz, if it’s music-related – add that hashtag!
At the beginning of each month, the next topic will be announced and you’ll have the next amount of time that works best for you to make a viz. There’s no set timetable, do what works for you! If you do happen to make something, be sure to tag me and use the hashtag #DataPlusMusic.
So what's new about this?
This is where things are going to get interesting. Over the course of the project, you will have the ability to learn and work with a few different music based APIs & Python libraries such as:
- Spotify
- Last.fm
- Genius Lyrics
- …maybe more
Now, please don’t let this deter you from joining in the fun. APIs and basic programming are growing skills for BI analysts. Don’t just take my word for it
A small bit of advice to data people. Make sure you have the ability to get data from APIs. The days of local databases are going away, so you need to know how to access the data through APIs. So roll up your sleeves and teach yourself what you need to know.
— Ken Flerlage (@flerlagekr) October 13, 2021
So I, along with other members of the community, will be there to help you along the way, sharing some code and walking through the basics. I’ve been working on the basics for a little while now and I can tell you that its not as bad as you may think. I’ll make your introduction simple and easy to understand. Plus, we’ll be dealing with music data so it’ll be fun. And when you learn while having fun, the bumps in the road won’t be as noticeable. And if your learning experience is anything like mine, you’ll likely end up with a new learning obsession!
But the fun won’t stop there! I’ve have several new and exciting ideas that I’m not quite ready to share but I assure you – when it’s ready you’ll be the first to know
Want to get started?
If you’re itching to get started, let’s take the rest of this month, and makeover my first viz from 6 years ago! You can get the data from my Github. Don’t forget to tag me and add the hashtag #DataPlusMusic
Some additional homework
Later on this year, we’re going to doing a listening habits topic and now is a great time to get set up so that you can log your listening habits. There are a few ways to go about it – The easiest and most popular way to do is to set an account with last.fm and “scrobble” your listening habits. There multiple ways to scrobble your listening habits. You can check them all out here
The Mission Statement
We all know how amazing and diverse this community is, I want #DataPlusMusic to be this community’s local record shop – join us to discover the new, reminisce the classics, debate the best & the worst. And learn a few things along the way!
because this…is #DataFam Vinyl
GO FORTH AND VIZ
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