Big data

At last, Reprex has its own company website, leaving the two flagship project sites, the Demo Music Observatory and the Listen Local separate. We are back to blogging after a particularly difficult lockdown period.

We needed a database of Slovak music to show how that national repertoire is seen by media and streaming platforms, how can we give it greater visibility in radio and streaming platforms, and what are the specific problems why certain artists and music is almost invisible.

Regulating black box, private algorithms and data monopolies is only a first step to damage control. Deploying white, transparent algorithms and building collaborative or open data pools can only guarantee fairness in the digital platforms, in recommendations, and generally in the use of AI.

You need to have 1000x more followers to double the routes leading to your artist profile and recordings with the current algorithms. We need new recommendation engines to dig out the local artists buried under a pile of international hits.

Big data algorithms will increase injustice and breach social norms if they are trained on improper data, or the algorithms are biased – this is why we place so much emphasis on algorithm transparency and input data transparency. Facebook, Apple or Spotify are often criticized for helping the spread of hate, for example. But how can an algorithm turn racist?

Big data creates injustice. We want to help small venues, independent small businesses, great artists and dedicated fans to make algorithms work for them. We create locally relevant recommendations and measure their effect.