Big record companies have always crunched numbers to divine the next big acts – ultimately, every successful star is a cash cow for someone. The difference is, we now have a lot more numbers to look at than record sales and radio plays, and access to this information is available to anyone, not just record company bigwigs. You and I have the tools to root out promising musicians. Before we do, though, it’s important to know what data points are being analyzed to make these conclusions.
via Data can predict music's next hit, we should use it | Digital Trends.