Post #1– From Streaming Bubbles to Mapping Creative DNA: Rethinking Music Discovery
Organic Music Discovery X Data Science When I (a data scientist whose entire existence somehow revolves around music) started thinking about what would later become Stell-R a couple of years ago, I had a simple but slightly unhinged idea: what if music recommendations were purely based on mutual artistic influences instead of traditional statistics (e.g. what similar users happen to stream together), simplistic labels (e.g. genres), and money (e.g. publicity)?
Traditional platforms might (correctly) tell you that if you like Arctic Monkeys, you'll like The Strokes. Fine. Predictable. But what if I told you Arctic Monkeys also (based on documented music history) leads you to Lou Reed, which leads to The Velvet Underground, which leads to Andy Warhol's entire artistic universe? Further, what if we mapped musical recommendations in such a way? My hunch is that it would be mindblowing.
To test this theory, I did something (to me, at least) unprecedented... I went ahead and collected and analyzed documented mutual connections between 21,243 artists (and counting!), mapped every influence connection between them, and see where that would take us. Why? Well, because I was never really satisfied by what Spotify Discovery (and similar tools) would give me on a regularly basis. And. Because I noticed that that is how I actually learned about music and how, throughout my entire life, I had discovered the (many, many) artists that were pivotal in constructing my taste.
Things like reading music blogs, album reviews, music history articles, going to record shops, conversations with other music lovers ...that is what really led me not only from one an artist to another but from one musical universe to another.
What if we programatically condensed these organic discovery processes?So in this first blog post I want to show you, just to whet your appetite, a glimpse of what I have discovered since then, and why it became the foundation for everything I'm now building at Stell-R.
What I Discovered
Spoiler Alert: Indeed, mindblowing. And it all made a lot of sense
What if I told you that Taylor Swift emerges almost directly from Joni Mitchell, Faith Hill, and The National? Or that David Bowie is the ultimate musical bridge, connecting 442 different artists across completely different genres?
That's the type of thing I discovered when I analyzed 21,243 artists and their influence connections. Instead of relying on streaming data or algorithmic guessing, I mapped the actual creative relationships between artists—and what I found was extraordinary.
Music Has 13 Hidden Communities
My analysis revealed that all of music can be organized into 13 distinct communities—musical universes that make perfect intuitive sense once you see them:
The largest universe, anchored by Black Sabbath and Pink Floyd. This is where metal meets progressive rock, with Led Zeppelin, Metallica, and King Crimson forming bridges to experimental territories. Contains 37 distinct subcommunities.
Led by Brian Eno and Aphex Twin, this universe spans from ambient pioneers to modern electronic experimentalists. Here, Radiohead sits perfectly next to Boards of Canada, and Steve Reich influences Four Tet. The most subcommunity-rich with 43 distinct clusters.
Modest Mouse and Arcade Fire rule this realm of indie rock and alternative music. Lou Reed acts as the godfather with 250 external connections, while Arctic Monkeys and Weezer bridge to newer generations.
Bob Dylan dominates with the highest influence score (0.155), alongside Neil Young and Johnny Cash. This universe spans singer-songwriters, folk, and narrative-driven music, with Bon Iver connecting to modern indie folk.
Kanye West, Drake, and Kendrick Lamar dominate this universe. James Blake emerges as a crucial bridge (167 external connections) connecting hip-hop to electronic and experimental communities, alongside Flying Lotus.
Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga reign here, but the most surprising discovery? Depeche Mode is the ultimate bridge artist with 264 external connections—more than Taylor Swift herself—connecting pop to darker electronic territories.
Miles Davis has the highest influence score of any jazz artist (0.209), alongside John Coltrane and Ornette Coleman. This universe bridges jazz innovation to rock, electronic, and experimental music across 31 subcommunities.
New Order, Daft Punk, and David Bowie anchor this universe of electronic innovation. This community acts as one of the three central hubs of the entire network with 3,640 external connections.
Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart form the classical core, with Philip Glass serving as the primary bridge (184 external connections) linking classical minimalism to ambient electronic music and film scores.
Sonic Youth dominates with the highest influence score in their community (0.242) and 398 external connections, bridging indie rock, noise, experimental, and underground music like no other band.
My Bloody Valentine, Belle and Sebastian, and Animal Collective lead this universe of shoegaze, indie pop, and experimental pop, with David Lynch providing cinematic connections.
James Brown anchors this universe alongside The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye. Talking Heads serves as a major bridge (223 external connections) connecting soul, funk, and rock.
A small, highly specialized community centered around Shape of Despair and extreme metal, representing music's most niche and isolated creative cluster with minimal external connections.
The Ultimate Musical Bridges
Some artists don't just influence their genre—they connect entire musical universes. These are the true innovators who shaped everything that came after:
David Bowie: The Supreme Connector
With 442 external connections, Bowie isn't just influential—he's the ultimate musical bridge, connecting glam rock to electronic, art rock to pop, and everything in between. No artist in our entire network comes close to this level of cross-genre influence.
Brian Eno: The Electronic Pioneer
361 external connections make Eno the master bridge between ambient, electronic, rock, and experimental music. His influence literally spans multiple universes, connecting communities that would otherwise remain isolated.
Sonic Youth: The Alternative Gateway
With 398 external connections and the highest influence score in experimental music (0.242), Sonic Youth bridges indie rock, noise, experimental, and underground music like no other band.
Miles Davis: The Jazz Revolutionary
244 external connections from the jazz universe to everywhere else, plus the highest influence score among jazz artists (0.209). Davis didn't just play jazz—he influenced rock, hip-hop, and electronic music in ways we're still discovering.
The Network's Central Hubs
Three communities emerge as the network's primary connectors: New Order's universe (3,640 external connections), Bob Dylan's universe (3,266 connections), and Taylor Swift's universe (2,977 connections)—proving that electronic innovation, storytelling, and pop sensibility are the three forces that bind all of music together.
Discoveries That Will Blow Your Mind
My network analysis revealed connections that would be impossible to find through traditional genre classification:
🎵 The Classical-Electronic Bridge: Philip Glass has 184 external connections, linking classical minimalism directly to ambient electronic music and film scores—making him the most connected classical composer in our network.
🎵 The Unexpected Pop Connection: Depeche Mode connects the pop universe to dark electronic territories with 264 external connections—more than Taylor Swift's 167 connections, revealing how electronic innovation drives pop evolution.
🎵 The Hip-Hop Experimentalists: James Blake bridges Kanye's hip-hop universe to Brian Eno's electronic experimentalism with 167 connections, while Flying Lotus adds another 126 connections between hip-hop and electronic experimentation.
🎵 The Folk-Everything Bridge: Bob Dylan doesn't just influence folk—his 287 external connections touch rock, country, indie, and even electronic music, while maintaining the highest influence score (0.155) in his entire universe.
🎵 The Beatles' Surprising Position: The Beatles appear in James Brown's soul/funk universe with 223 external connections, showing how their influence extends far beyond rock into the foundations of rhythm and groove.
Try It Yourself: Explore These Hidden Connections
Want to see these connections in action? Here are some mind-bending paths you can explore on Stell-R:
Radiohead → Taylor Swift See how experimental rock connects to pop through unexpected bridges
Miles Davis → Kanye West Discover how jazz innovation flows into hip-hop creativity
Johnny Cash → Aphex Twin The most unlikely connection you never saw coming
Explore David Bowie's Complete Network See why Bowie is the ultimate musical connector
Why This Changes Everything
Most music recommendation systems are built on listening data—what people stream together. But influence isn't about similarity. It's about creative DNA.
When Black Sabbath influenced Mastodon, when Brian Eno shaped Radiohead, when Miles Davis inspired Flying Lotus—these aren't just influences. They're creative genealogy.
That's why Spotify might recommend another indie rock band when you like Arctic Monkeys, but Stell-R shows you that Arctic Monkeys connects to Lou Reed, to The Velvet Underground, to Andy Warhol's Factory, to an entire universe of art and creativity you never knew existed.
The Science Behind the Magic
My network analysis uses sophisticated graph theoretical algorithms—breadth-first search, shortest path algorithms, and maximum flow analysis—applied to a graph of genuine artistic influence rather than streaming behavior.
I identified communities using advanced clustering algorithms that revealed these 13 musical universes naturally, without forcing artificial genre boundaries. The result? A map of music that actually reflects how creativity flows between artists.
What's Your Musical DNA?
Every artist you love is part of this vast web of influence. Every song connects to something unexpected. Every genre bleeds into another through the bridges of true innovation.
Enter any artist and discover their universe. Find the bridge artists who shaped them. Trace influence paths that span decades and genres. See how your favorite musicians connect to artists you've never heard of—but should.
Because music isn't just what you listen to. It's a living, breathing network of creativity that connects every song ever made.
Start Exploring Your Musical Connections →What connections will you discover?
This analysis became the foundation for everything I'm building at Stell-R. Over the coming weeks, I'll be sharing more insights from my research, stories behind my discoveries, and deep dives into the fascinating world where music meets data science.
What would you like me to explore next? Let me know what musical mysteries intrigue you most.