Music Tech Glossary

The number of bits (data) processed per unit of time. In music streaming, a higher bitrate (e.g., 320kbps vs 128kbps) generally means better audio quality but consumes more data. Spotify Premium streams at approx 320kbps (Ogg Vorbis).

A proprietary Spotify feature that allows artists to upload a short, looping 3-8 second video that plays in the background of the "Now Playing" screen instead of static album art.

An individual or algorithm responsible for selecting and organizing music tracks into a playlist. Highly influential curators can break new artists by placing them on lists with millions of followers.

A method of audio compression that preserves all the original data of the recording. Services like Apple Music and Tidal offer Lossless streaming (ALAC/FLAC), providing CD-quality or better sound.

The hidden data attached to a music file. This includes the Artist Name, Track Title, Album Name, Release Year, Genre, ISRC code, and Cover Art. Accurate metadata is essential for proper music distribution and royalty payments.

Music or assets that can be used without paying royalties or license fees for each use. However, "Royalty-Free" does not mean "Copyright-Free"; you typically still need a license to use it initially.

A set of rules or instructions given to an AI. In Spotify, the algorithm analyzes listening habits (skip rate, save rate) to recommend new songs. In PlaylistPix, our algorithm analyzes song attributes to determine visual themes.

A type of generative AI model (like Flux or Stable Diffusion) used to create images. It works by taking random "noise" (static) and refining it step-by-step until a recognizable image emerges based on a text prompt.

Art that is created, in whole or in part, through the use of an autonomous system (non-human). This can range from simple code-based patterns to complex AI illustrations.

The art of crafting specific text inputs (prompts) to guide an AI model to produce a desired output. For example, changing "A dog" to "A cinematic portrait of a golden retriever, golden hour lighting, 8k resolution" drastically improves the result.

The process of understanding the meaning and emotion behind text or data. PlaylistPix uses this to understand that a playlist named "3AM Crying" requires a dark, moody visual style rather than a bright, happy one.