#journaldatavischallenge
One Week in Sound
Week-long journey into music,
brought to life through data visualization
brought to life through data visualization
In this project, I explored my personal music preferences by analyzing my listening data from Yandex Music over the course of one week, from November 8 to November 14, 2024. I was curious to see how much time I spend on listening to music in general, which tracks I tend to play on repeat, and which musical genres dominate my library, reflecting my personal taste.
I extracted my listening data from the service. The data included track titles, artists, and track durations. Each composition was represented by a beam, with the length corresponding to the track duration. I grouped the tracks by day, creating an unusual timeline that reflects my musical journey.
I marked the tracks that are in my favorites by adding a unique shine to them to signify their importance in my life. Moreover, I added lines that linked repeated tracks.
I marked the tracks that are in my favorites by adding a unique shine to them to signify their importance in my life. Moreover, I added lines that linked repeated tracks.
Obviously, I wanted to delve into my genre preferences. To achieve this, I enlisted the help of ChatGPT to identify the genres of all the tracks I had listened to. I assigned colors to represent each genre and applied gradients to the beams, which not only provided the necessary visual ambiance but also reflected the idea that no track is confined by strict boundaries, each begins and ends in silence.
I calculated the amount of time I spent listening to each genre, the number of times I played tracks from each genre, and the count of unique compositions. Unsurprisingly, rock music emerged as the leader by a significant margin.
I calculated the amount of time I spent listening to each genre, the number of times I played tracks from each genre, and the count of unique compositions. Unsurprisingly, rock music emerged as the leader by a significant margin.
I have a tendency to become captivated by a piece of music, playing it over and over again until I finally tire of it. To illustrate this pattern, I connected the repeated plays of the same track with lines.
Below there are the top three tracks that I listened to repeatedly. Interestingly, none of them are rock songs. It’s fascinating to observe how the repetition of each track creates a unique pattern on the timeline. While some tracks cluster around specific days, others are more spread out throughout the week. This reveals charming details, such as how one day might end with a particular track and the next day begins with the same one, illustrating the rhythm of my musical engagement.
Below there are the top three tracks that I listened to repeatedly. Interestingly, none of them are rock songs. It’s fascinating to observe how the repetition of each track creates a unique pattern on the timeline. While some tracks cluster around specific days, others are more spread out throughout the week. This reveals charming details, such as how one day might end with a particular track and the next day begins with the same one, illustrating the rhythm of my musical engagement.
Of course, I was curious about which artists' tracks I listened to the most. Here are the top three artists based on the number of unique tracks I listened to during that week. Below are all the listens, including repetitions, and I’ve included the connecting lines to illustrate the patterns.
As a result, a unique and expressive visualization emerged that remains clear and accessible overall. I was particularly thrilled to hear what Stefan Pullen, the special guest of the Journal Datavis Challenge, said about it. He selected my work as November's Pick and remarked that the visualization "feels almost audible." His words truly touched me and were very moving.
Thank you for taking the time to read.
I hope you enjoyed the visualization and that it inspired you to explore your own musical journey.
I hope you enjoyed the visualization and that it inspired you to explore your own musical journey.
