Music Machinery

Today we are releasing a Java client library for the Echo Nest developer API.   This  library gives the Java programmer  full access to the Echo Nest developer API. The API includes artist-level methods such as getting artist news, reviews, blogs, audio, video, links,  familiarity, hotttnesss, similar artists, and so on.  The API also includes access to the renown track analysis API that will allow you to get a detailed musical analysis of any music track. This analysis includes loudness, mode, key, tempo, time signature, detailed beat structure, harmonic content, and timbre information for a track.

To use the API you need to get an Echo Nest developer key (it’s free) from developer.echonest.com.   Here are some code samples:

// a quick and dirty audio search engine
   ArtistAPI artistAPI = new ArtistAPI(MY_ECHO_NEST_API_KEY);

   List<Artist> artists = artistAPI.searchArtist("The Decemberists", false);
   for (Artist artist : artists) {
       DocumentList<Audio> audioList = artistAPI.getAudio(artist, 0, 15);
       for (Audio audio : audioList.getDocuments()) {
          System.out.println(audio.toString())
       }
   }

// find similar artists for weezer
   ArtistAPI artistAPI = new ArtistAPI(MY_ECHO_NEST_API_KEY);
   List<Artist> artists = artistAPI.searchArtist("weezer", false);
    for (Artist artist : artists) {
          List<Scored<Artist>> similars = artistAPI.getSimilarArtists(artist, 0, 10);
          for (Scored<Artist> simArtist : similars) {
              System.out.println("   " + simArtist.getItem().getName());
          }
     }

// Find the tempo of a track
    TrackAPI trackAPI = new TrackAPI(MY_ECHO_NEST_API_KEY);
    String id = trackAPI.uploadTrack(new File("/path/to/music/track.mp3"), false);
    AnalysisStatus status = trackAPI.waitForAnalysis(id, 60000);
    if (status == AnalysisStatus.COMPLETE) {
       System.out.println("Tempo in BPM: " + trackAPI.getTempo(id));
    }

There are some nifty bits in the API.  The API will cache data for you so frequently requested data (everyone wants the latest news about Cher) will be served up very quickly. The cache can be persisted, and the shelf-life for data in the cache can be set programmatically (the default age is one week).  The API will (optionally) schedule requests to ensure that you don’t exceed your call limit.   For those that like to look under the hood, you can turn on tracing to see what the method URL calls look like and see what the returned XML looks like.

If you are interested in kicking the tires of the Echo Nest API and you are a Java or Processing programmer, give the API a try.

• Java Client for the Echo Nest Project Page
• Download
• Javadocs

If you have any questions / comments or problems abut the API  post to the Echo Nest Forums.