Alternative music has been labeled as everything from “indie” to “alternative.” For the most part, most people use the terms “alternative” and “indie” interchangeably.

Since there are so many different types of alternative music, it is hard to pin down exactly which genre is labeled as alternative. Some will argue that alternative music is any music that is not mainstream.

Others will argue that any music that is not pop is not alternative music. If you are more in the “indie” camp, you may feel that alternative music falls more into the indie umbrella.

This is certainly a valid argument, but the “indie” umbrella is really an umbrella term that is open to interpretation. There are lots of “indie” artists that are not called “indie” at all.

There are also lots of pop artists that are not called “pop” at all.

Lyrics

Lyrics can be one of the most important parts of a song. Sometimes, it is easy to recognize a song that has a good message.

For example, I like to listen to John Mayer’s music, but I don’t recognize his name. However, when I hear his music, I know exactly who he is because I hear his lyrics.

His music is amazing, but his lyrics are amazing. His lyrics are often about his feelings, and I am always reminded of him when I listen to his music.

Some may compare his music to another song by the same artist, “Your Body Is a Wonderland.”

While the musical style is often similar to John Mayer’s, the lyrics are different. Some people might compare the lyrics in “Your Body Is a Wonderland” to “Girl on Fire.”

In both of these songs, the lyrics tell a story of a person being in love. However, one song has a message of a woman’s need to leave an abusive relationship.

The other song has a message of a man’s need to let his lover know that he loves her and he will never leave her. This is another example of the difference in lyric structure.

In “Your Body Is a Wonderland,” the woman is the main focus. In “Girl on Fire,” the man is the main focus. If you compare the lyrics of these songs side by side, you will see that the lyrical content is completely different.

Categorizing music is difficult because there are just too many different factors to consider. These are just a few of the factors to consider when you are trying to categorize music.

By taking the time to learn a little more about what is popular, you may find that you like different types of music than your friends.

You may find that you prefer more different types of music than your mom.

Methods

The first method used to measure popularity is popularity index. Popularity index is measure of number of listeners.

Popularity index can be defined as the number of people who are listening to the song and rate it as excellent, good, average, or bad. There is no easy way to calculate popularity index.

Hence the popularity index can only be calculated based on track listing of an album. Tracks can be regarded as the smallest unit of a band.

So popularity index can be calculated based on track listing. The popularity index can be calculated with following formula:

• N=TRACKLISTING/(1000)/LOVE TRIBUTE

The popularity index can also be calculated based on band members or total number of songs of a band. In order to calculate popularity index, the following formula is used:

• N=TRACKLISTING/(1000/LOVE TRIBUTE)

A slightly different method is used to calculate popularity index. Popularity index can be calculated by considering number of weeks for a song to rank on the list. Popularity index can be calculated as:

• N=TRACKLISTING/(WATCH THE 1ST WEEKLIST/100)

Using this method, the following method can be used to calculate popularity index:

• N=TRACKLISTING/(THE FIRST NUMBER OF VOTES/100)

TOTAL ACCELERATION

Total Acceleration is one of the measures used to determine popularity of an album. This method is used to assess the momentum of an album.

The acceleration is a measure of the increase in popularity. A low momentum will give the album less boost in popularity.

However, a high momentum will give the album much higher popularity. The momentum of an album can be used to determine the peak of popularity.

The following formula is used to calculate the momentum of an album:

• N=AUDIENCE (WILL PLAY)/(PLAYLIST MADE)

The total acceleration is calculated as follows:

• N=WILL PLAY/(AUDIENCE+LIST)

KEEP EXCITING

Keep Exciting is another method used to measure the popularity of an album. This method is used to assess the urgency of the album.

In other words, the importance of the album has been evaluated based on the song’s importance. A song has to have a certain importance in order to be in the last track list.

The following formula is used to calculate the keep exciting:

• N=WHEN(MEAN(PAGE/1),PAGE/11)/0.1)

In order to calculate keep exciting the following formula is used:

• N=WHEN(MEAN(PAGE/2),PAGE/11)/0.1)

PASSION

Passion is an important factor for success in music industry. If a song has much more passion than another song, then it will be included in the last track list.

There are two categories that the song can be classified under. The following formula is used to calculate passion of an album:

• N=PASSION(FEEL(FELL IN LOVE)/(MADE IT TO LAST)

A person’s subjective opinion matters the most. A popular album usually has much higher percentage of songs that are released under the chart. The following formula is used to calculate the subjective passion of an album:

• N=PASSION(FEEL(I FELL IN LOVE)/(MADE IT TO LAST)

The genres and popularity index can be calculated based on the chart. Therefore, the following formula is used to calculate genre popularity index:

• N=GENRE/(PAGE(11)/PAGE(6))

The music industry is really competitive and contains different acts. A lot of albums are released on the market.

Hence there is a high probability that all the albums will have the same popularity index. This is true for chart based and subjective passion factor.

Therefore, in order to get the real popularity of an album, it is very necessary to have a chart based system.

There are many cases when the popularity index of a track list is different than the popularity index of the entire album.

It is recommended to use the popularity index in accordance with the chart.