User Models for Culture-Aware Music Recommendation: Fusing Acoustic and Cultural Cues

Eva Zangerle; Martin Pichl; Markus Schedl

doi:10.5334/tismir.37

Figures & Tables

Table 1

Statistics of the dataset utilized (LE = listening event).

Item	Value
Listening events	394,944,868
Users	55,149
Distinct tracks	3,478,399
Min. LE per user	1
Q₁ LE per user	1,442
Median LE per user	5,667
Q₃ LE per user	9,738
Max. LE per user	399,210
Avg. LE per User	7,161.41 (±10,326.91)
Avg. Users per Country	1,155.93 (±1,894.96)

Table 2

Number of users per country for countries with more than 200 users. We use ISO 3166 2-digit country codes to abbreviate country names.

Abbrv.	Country	Users
US	United States	10,251
RU	Russian Federation	5,021
DE	Germany	4,576
UK	United Kingdom	4,533
PL	Poland	4,403
BR	Brazil	3,882
FI	Finland	1,409
NL	Netherlands	1,375
ES	Spain	1,242
SE	Sweden	1,230
UA	Ukraine	1,140
CA	Canada	1,077
FR	France	1,055
AU	Australia	976
IT	Italy	973
JP	Japan	798
NO	Norway	750
MX	Mexico	705
CZ	Czechia	632
BY	Belarus	558
BE	Belgium	513
ID	Indonesia	484
TR	Turkey	478
CL	Chile	425
HR	Croatia	372
PT	Portugal	291
AR	Argentina	282
CH	Switzerland	277
AT	Austria	276
HU	Hungary	272
DK	Denmark	271
RS	Serbia	253
RO	Romania	237
BG	Bulgaria	236
IE	Ireland	219
LT	Lithuania	202

Table 3

Overview of evaluated models, where features prefixed with U describe a user and features prefixed with T describe a track; the models on two last rows serve as baselines.

Model	User Features	Track Features
Music + Culture	U_ID, U_AF, U_WHR, U_HOF	T_ID, T_AF, T_WHR, T_HOF
Music	U_ID, U_AF	T_ID, T_AF
Culture	U_ID, U_WHR, U_HOF	T_ID, T_HOF, T_WHR
Country	U_ID, U_Country_ID	T_ID, T_Country_ID
User + Track	U_ID	T_ID

Table 4

Precision, recall, and F₁-score for all proposed models (sorted by performance; standard deviation in parentheses).

Model	Prec	Rec	F₁
Music + Culture	0.98 (±0.04)	0.63 (±0.15)	0.75 (±0.10)
Music	0.95 (±0.06)	0.59 (±0.15)	0.72 (±0.11)
Country	0.83 (±0.11)	0.52 (±0.12)	0.63 (±0.10)
Culture	0.31 (±0.15)	0.18 (±0.08)	0.24 (±0.09)
User + Track	0.13 (±0.10)	0.08 (±0.06)	0.13 (±0.06)

Precision-recall-curves for top-n = 1…50 recommendations for all models.

Table 5

RMSE and MAE of all models.

Model	RMSE	MAE
Music + Culture	0.15	0.02
Music	0.17	0.03
Country	0.36	0.13
Culture	0.88	0.77
User + Track	0.93	0.85

Information gain of the top 30 individual user and track features of the Music + Culture model.

Table 6

Means and standard deviations (in parentheses) of acoustic preferences of each country’s users. The highest value of each acoustic property is printed in bold; the lowest in italic. Countries are sorted alphabetically according to their country code.

Country	Danceability	Energy	Speechiness	Acousticness	Instrumentalness	Liveness	Valence	Tempo
AR	0.512 (0.091)	0.739 (0.140)	0.048 (0.017)	0.113 (0.163)	0.059 (0.166)	0.145 (0.034)	0.482 (0.122)	123.113 (7.756)
AT	0.476 (0.102)	0.766 (0.172)	0.059 (0.025)	0.106 (0.182)	0.127 (0.227)	0.154 (0.042)	0.405 (0.133)	124.400 (8.483)
AU	0.491 (0.100)	0.746 (0.157)	0.057 (0.028)	0.112 (0.172)	0.119 (0.228)	0.153 (0.043)	0.435 (0.129)	123.562 (9.116)
BE	0.507 (0.106)	0.718 (0.170)	0.056 (0.029)	0.143 (0.198)	0.165 (0.260)	0.148 (0.045)	0.428 (0.129)	122.783 (8.825)
BG	0.491 (0.101)	0.801 (0.135)	0.062 (0.029)	0.063 (0.123)	0.117 (0.215)	0.159 (0.044)	0.418 (0.131)	124.052 (10.034)
BR	0.509 (0.089)	0.758 (0.148)	0.053 (0.024)	0.114 (0.173)	0.029 (0.112)	0.154 (0.054)	0.478 (0.121)	124.566 (10.589)
CA	0.495 (0.098)	0.736 (0.159)	0.056 (0.028)	0.126 (0.180)	0.117 (0.222)	0.153 (0.048)	0.441 (0.128)	123.161 (8.588)
CH	0.518 (0.106)	0.706 (0.169)	0.053 (0.025)	0.161 (0.197)	0.134 (0.251)	0.142 (0.037)	0.442 (0.140)	122.438 (8.510)
CL	0.495 (0.099)	0.769 (0.136)	0.054 (0.022)	0.091 (0.155)	0.072 (0.170)	0.151 (0.041)	0.455 (0.131)	124.367 (7.929)
CN	0.502 (0.118)	0.643 (0.197)	0.051 (0.041)	0.232 (0.249)	0.153 (0.279)	0.145 (0.074)	0.393 (0.153)	121.190 (13.016)
CO	0.532 (0.097)	0.755 (0.129)	0.050 (0.017)	0.099 (0.154)	0.073 (0.169)	0.142 (0.036)	0.486 (0.141)	123.085 (7.644)
CZ	0.487 (0.097)	0.769 (0.154)	0.057 (0.024)	0.094 (0.166)	0.139 (0.235)	0.157 (0.051)	0.418 (0.137)	123.901 (8.317)
DE	0.502 (0.110)	0.776 (0.154)	0.063 (0.039)	0.094 (0.166)	0.114 (0.227)	0.158 (0.048)	0.445 (0.138)	124.570 (9.937)
DK	0.524 (0.099)	0.701 (0.172)	0.052 (0.026)	0.161 (0.203)	0.107 (0.220)	0.147 (0.059)	0.445 (0.125)	121.128 (8.498)
EE	0.504 (0.095)	0.755 (0.144)	0.056 (0.028)	0.091 (0.151)	0.147 (0.246)	0.147 (0.037)	0.428 (0.124)	124.531 (10.383)
ES	0.514 (0.101)	0.733 (0.163)	0.052 (0.023)	0.141 (0.196)	0.085 (0.194)	0.148 (0.038)	0.474 (0.136)	123.432 (8.257)
FI	0.487 (0.103)	0.806 (0.132)	0.062 (0.032)	0.062 (0.131)	0.122 (0.219)	0.166 (0.042)	0.428 (0.136)	123.707 (8.277)
FR	0.533 (0.113)	0.704 (0.159)	0.057 (0.035)	0.152 (0.193)	0.152 (0.249)	0.144 (0.046)	0.452 (0.145)	120.900 (9.452)
GR	0.473 (0.091)	0.709 (0.161)	0.049 (0.020)	0.124 (0.193)	0.198 (0.267)	0.144 (0.033)	0.397 (0.127)	121.519 (8.147)
HR	0.473 (0.101)	0.752 (0.157)	0.056 (0.026)	0.110 (0.165)	0.158 (0.245)	0.151 (0.038)	0.418 (0.132)	122.991 (8.289)
HU	0.494 (0.116)	0.800 (0.144)	0.064 (0.033)	0.066 (0.140)	0.189 (0.283)	0.162 (0.045)	0.408 (0.146)	124.793 (10.081)
ID	0.510 (0.089)	0.716 (0.165)	0.048 (0.023)	0.150 (0.195)	0.040 (0.144)	0.147 (0.048)	0.448 (0.126)	123.762 (12.311)
IE	0.503 (0.092)	0.696 (0.174)	0.051 (0.024)	0.164 (0.211)	0.120 (0.222)	0.146 (0.040)	0.445 (0.125)	122.503 (8.780)
IN	0.487 (0.104)	0.704 (0.186)	0.053 (0.037)	0.158 (0.234)	0.143 (0.266)	0.145 (0.058)	0.398 (0.134)	121.598 (11.939)
IR	0.455 (0.101)	0.599 (0.215)	0.049 (0.031)	0.278 (0.265)	0.181 (0.281)	0.133 (0.038)	0.298 (0.137)	119.224 (12.176)
IT	0.501 (0.090)	0.705 (0.166)	0.051 (0.023)	0.158 (0.199)	0.085 (0.186)	0.144 (0.036)	0.444 (0.130)	122.752 (8.591)
JP	0.512 (0.102)	0.729 (0.189)	0.056 (0.032)	0.153 (0.220)	0.156 (0.268)	0.153 (0.060)	0.474 (0.159)	123.181 (13.594)
LT	0.477 (0.105)	0.750 (0.154)	0.054 (0.020)	0.097 (0.165)	0.182 (0.264)	0.146 (0.037)	0.393 (0.124)	122.687 (8.250)
LV	0.494 (0.099)	0.730 (0.172)	0.056 (0.033)	0.122 (0.192)	0.158 (0.263)	0.149 (0.046)	0.399 (0.125)	121.961 (12.291)
MX	0.529 (0.091)	0.757 (0.124)	0.051 (0.023)	0.091 (0.145)	0.079 (0.191)	0.146 (0.040)	0.485 (0.130)	124.044 (8.197)
NL	0.518 (0.100)	0.705 (0.171)	0.053 (0.029)	0.154 (0.202)	0.115 (0.235)	0.144 (0.040)	0.446 (0.130)	122.553 (9.230)
NO	0.507 (0.101)	0.710 (0.162)	0.052 (0.024)	0.147 (0.193)	0.117 (0.225)	0.145 (0.037)	0.435 (0.130)	122.500 (8.098)
NZ	0.486 (0.100)	0.771 (0.144)	0.059 (0.026)	0.085 (0.154)	0.136 (0.252)	0.158 (0.044)	0.432 (0.134)	124.857 (9.177)
PL	0.504 (0.102)	0.766 (0.145)	0.065 (0.046)	0.093 (0.155)	0.099 (0.208)	0.154 (0.048)	0.436 (0.137)	122.569 (10.738)
PT	0.478 (0.107)	0.736 (0.178)	0.056 (0.028)	0.129 (0.203)	0.145 (0.241)	0.150 (0.041)	0.407 (0.132)	122.887 (9.709)
RO	0.476 (0.113)	0.720 (0.166)	0.053 (0.023)	0.121 (0.184)	0.224 (0.285)	0.142 (0.034)	0.373 (0.139)	121.389 (7.864)
RS	0.499 (0.119)	0.745 (0.154)	0.059 (0.034)	0.102 (0.167)	0.139 (0.240)	0.151 (0.041)	0.424 (0.143)	121.517 (8.257)
RU	0.485 (0.099)	0.790 (0.146)	0.061 (0.032)	0.071 (0.149)	0.141 (0.247)	0.161 (0.049)	0.415 (0.136)	124.464 (10.373)
SE	0.512 (0.096)	0.725 (0.159)	0.053 (0.028)	0.138 (0.185)	0.115 (0.227)	0.147 (0.036)	0.454 (0.123)	123.027 (7.834)
SK	0.479 (0.103)	0.755 (0.172)	0.064 (0.040)	0.109 (0.178)	0.184 (0.263)	0.156 (0.040)	0.381 (0.136)	122.172 (9.100)
TR	0.498 (0.095)	0.669 (0.184)	0.049 (0.023)	0.199 (0.228)	0.128 (0.238)	0.137 (0.040)	0.398 (0.125)	119.935 (9.252)
UK	0.512 (0.096)	0.723 (0.163)	0.054 (0.027)	0.134 (0.192)	0.110 (0.227)	0.148 (0.041)	0.465 (0.128)	123.424 (9.642)
US	0.507 (0.100)	0.721 (0.163)	0.057 (0.044)	0.140 (0.194)	0.108 (0.221)	0.150 (0.049)	0.461 (0.130)	122.624 (9.813)
VE	0.515 (0.101)	0.777 (0.113)	0.054 (0.022)	0.070 (0.120)	0.082 (0.198)	0.151 (0.042)	0.476 (0.152)	124.961 (10.287)

Table 7

Spearman rank-order correlations between users’ acoustic properties of listening behavior and cultural features (Hofstede). Correlations >0.1 are highlighted in bold face. Statistically significant correlations at p < 0.001 are marked with an asterisk (*).

	PD	IDV	MAS	UA	LTO	IND
Danceability	–0.035*	0.044*	0.023*	–0.052*	–0.024*	0.072*
Energy	0.056*	–0.102*	–0.014	0.116*	0.076*	–0.115*
Speechiness	0.022*	–0.034*	0.016*	0.085*	0.065*	–0.096*
Acousticness	–0.056*	0.105*	0.026*	–0.122*	–0.086*	0.125*
Instrumentalness	–0.012	0.011	–0.029*	0.038*	0.055*	–0.055*
Liveness	0.021*	–0.042*	–0.014	0.059*	0.035*	–0.065*
Valence	–0.042*	0.059*	0.047*	–0.076*	–0.063*	0.114*
Tempo	0.009	–0.041*	0.008	0.031*	0.043*	–0.025*

Table 8

Spearman rank-order correlations between users’ acoustic properties of listening behavior and socio-economic features (WHR). Correlations >0.1 are highlighted in bold face. Statistically significant correlations at p < 0.001 are marked with an asterisk (*).

	Happiness	GDP	Social Sup.	Life Exp.	Freedom	Trust	Generosity
Danceability	0.035*	0.036*	–0.010	0.049*	0.037*	0.051*	0.052*
Energy	–0.036*	–0.067*	0.056*	–0.056*	–0.026*	–0.033*	–0.101*
Speechiness	–0.018*	–0.007	0.059*	–0.017*	0.011	–0.004	–0.067*
Acousticness	0.055*	0.079*	–0.046*	0.070*	0.039*	0.048*	0.118*
Instrumentalness	–0.031*	0.030*	0.042*	0.040*	0.006	0.001	–0.044*
Liveness	0.005	–0.019*	0.056*	–0.030*	0.001	–0.008	–0.048*
Valence	0.071*	0.047*	0.008	0.051*	0.044*	0.064*	0.084*
Tempo	0.004	–0.025*	0.046*	–0.015*	0.001	0.003	–0.016*