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Wood ALC, Kirby KR, Ember CR, Silbert S, Passmore S, Daikoku H, McBride J, Paulay F, Flory MJ, Szinger J, D’Arcangelo G, Bradley KK, Guarino M, Atayeva M, Rifkin J, Baron V, El Hajli M, Szinger M, Savage PE. The Global Jukebox: A public database of performing arts and culture. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0275469. [PMID: 36322519 PMCID: PMC9629617 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0275469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2022] [Accepted: 09/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Standardized cross-cultural databases of the arts are critical to a balanced scientific understanding of the performing arts, and their role in other domains of human society. This paper introduces the Global Jukebox as a resource for comparative and cross-cultural study of the performing arts and culture. The Global Jukebox adds an extensive and detailed global database of the performing arts that enlarges our understanding of human cultural diversity. Initially prototyped by Alan Lomax in the 1980s, its core is the Cantometrics dataset, encompassing standardized codings on 37 aspects of musical style for 5,776 traditional songs from 1,026 societies. The Cantometrics dataset has been cleaned and checked for reliability and accuracy, and includes a full coding guide with audio training examples (https://theglobaljukebox.org/?songsofearth). Also being released are seven additional datasets coding and describing instrumentation, conversation, popular music, vowel and consonant placement, breath management, social factors, and societies. For the first time, all digitized Global Jukebox data are being made available in open-access, downloadable format (https://github.com/theglobaljukebox), linked with streaming audio recordings (theglobaljukebox.org) to the maximum extent allowed while respecting copyright and the wishes of culture-bearers. The data are cross-indexed with the Database of Peoples, Languages, and Cultures (D-PLACE) to allow researchers to test hypotheses about worldwide coevolution of aesthetic patterns and traditions. As an example, we analyze the global relationship between song style and societal complexity, showing that they are robustly related, in contrast to previous critiques claiming that these proposed relationships were an artifact of autocorrelation (though causal mechanisms remain unresolved).
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna L. C. Wood
- Association for Cultural Equity (ACE), Hunter College, New York City, NY, United States of America
- Centro Studi Alan Lomax, Palermo, Italy
- * E-mail: (ALCW); (PES)
| | - Kathryn R. Kirby
- Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| | - Carol R. Ember
- Human Relations Area Files at Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States of America
| | - Stella Silbert
- Association for Cultural Equity (ACE), Hunter College, New York City, NY, United States of America
| | - Sam Passmore
- Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa, Japan
- Evolution of Cultural Diversity Initiative, School of Culture, History and Language, College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Hideo Daikoku
- Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University, Fujisawa, Japan
| | - John McBride
- Center for Soft & Living Matter, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon, South Korea
| | - Forrestine Paulay
- Association for Cultural Equity (ACE), Hunter College, New York City, NY, United States of America
- Laban/Bartenieff Institute for Movement Studies, New York, NY, United States of America
| | - Michael J. Flory
- Research Design and Analysis Service, New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities, Staten Island, NY, United States of America
| | - John Szinger
- Association for Cultural Equity (ACE), Hunter College, New York City, NY, United States of America
| | | | - Karen Kohn Bradley
- Laban/Bartenieff Institute for Movement Studies, New York, NY, United States of America
| | - Marco Guarino
- American Studies Program, University of Texas, Austin, Texas, United States of America
| | - Maisa Atayeva
- Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States of America
| | - Jesse Rifkin
- Association for Cultural Equity (ACE), Hunter College, New York City, NY, United States of America
| | - Violet Baron
- University of Indiana, Folklore & Ethnomusicology, Bloomington, Indiana, United States of America
| | - Miriam El Hajli
- Association for Cultural Equity (ACE), Hunter College, New York City, NY, United States of America
| | - Martin Szinger
- Association for Cultural Equity (ACE), Hunter College, New York City, NY, United States of America
| | - Patrick E. Savage
- Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, Fujisawa, Japan
- * E-mail: (ALCW); (PES)
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