Knowing what tracks DJs play out at clubs is important to companies in order to figure out future trends in music. As of yet, it has been a little hard to track such statistics, as DJs have been known to cycle through tracks at ridiculous rates, or perhaps they have made their own edits on a track.
Whatever the reason, Berlin music tech developer Future Audio Workshop has developed a system called GTI – Geo Track ID – that essentially “fingerprints” any track played at a club on the decks. The heart of the system is a box that hooks into the soundsystem and continuously analyzes the music that’s played. According to Resident Advisor, “The fingerprinting algorithm has been designed to accommodate tracks being pitched up or down, as they would be in most DJ mixes. Much of GTI’s library of fingerprints for electronic music comes from Juno, which contains vinyl-only releases in addition to its digital catalog; label owners and artists are also able to submit music to the database directly online.” 
“Until now, it has been extremely difficult for PROs [performing rights organizations] to obtain information detailing the music played in clubs,” the company said in a statement. “Instead, most PROs currently employ ad-hoc methods to estimate this data, and in doing so tend to produce results that are inaccurate.”
While this is being exclusively geared toward PROs at the moment, it could become a tool for listeners to find out what track was played at a show. I know that I’m always on the look out for new artists, and if I hear something I like at a show and I can’t figure out what it is, I become very dismayed.
Source: Resident Advisor
