Music discovery using perceptual features

Perceptual features are qualitative features used to describe music properties in relation to human perception, rather than the typical musical theory concepts such as pitches and chords. This report describes a music discovery browser which uses three different methods of music playlist generation to investigate if and how perceptual features work when used for music discovery. One method abstracts away the complexity of perceptual features and the other two lets users use them directly. Two user testing sessions were performed to evaluate the browser and compare the different methods. Test participants found the playlist generation to work well in general, and especially found the method which uses emotions as an interface to be intuitive, enjoyable and something they would use to find new music. The other two methods which let users directly interact with perceptual features were less popular, especially among users without musical education. Overall, using perceptual features for music discovery was successful, although methods should be carefully chosen with the intended audience in mind.