I'll admit it: I'm a huge geek. But I'm also a huge music fan and always seem to find ways to marry my love for music with my love for all things technical and nerdy. So it probably comes as no small shock that I find this fascinating. Apparently, someone has developed software that can predict whether a song will be a hit or not. NPR's Laura Sydell on Music Intelligence Solutions' Hit Song Science:

Many of us like to believe that there's a little magic behind the making of a hit single. Take a song like "I Gotta Feeling" by The Black Eyed Peas. That's a good song, judging by sales: It's on top of the Billboard pop chart. David Meredith, CEO of Music Intelligence Solutions, says there's no magic in that; it's math. His software, called Hit Song Science, gave the song a hit score of 8.9 out 10.

Via CNN:

The software, developed by Barcelona-based Music Intelligence Solutions, works by breaking down more than 60 elements of a song, including melody, harmony, tempo, pitch, octave, beat, rhythm, fullness of sound, noise, brilliance and chord progression, and compares it against a database of over 3.5 million past commercial hits.

But can you truly guess which songs become hits? Sure, a lot of popular songs share certain characteristics: great hooks, for instance, but scoring that elusive "hit single" is much more unpredictable than that. (And we haven't even accounted for image and marketing yet.) Besides, isn't longevity and respect more important than a few fleeting minutes of chart fame? I doubt anyone could have predicted Radiohead's commercial success. And with music fans turning to blogs like The Rich Girls Are Weeping and I AM FUEL, YOU ARE FRIENDS, is all this "hit predicting" really necessary? When I think algorithms and music, Pandora immediately springs to mind. I've been hipped to a lot of artists I would have turned down (or turned my nose up at) through Pandora's personalized radio service. I'm far from being the only one. Leah from Confessions Of a Music Addict on The Kooks:

i never paid attentions to this album until 'love it all' showed up on my pandora station, and then i revisited it, and i lurve it. it's mindless and fits in with everyday music, but has that little extra smidge of brit rock.

Looking back, all the great music I've discovered came through different means: radio, internet, a cooler friend's mixtape -- all valid ways of reaching fans. Robotic hit making machines and algorithms aside, music usually does find its audience. Passion wins out over science every time.