Music Think Tank

Now there’s a question from which one will get different answers depending upon who you ask. Let’s just say in my experiences when chatting with people at music events such as the recent SXSW conference, people generally fall into 1 of 3 camps.

Musicians: Although generalizing, musicians tend to relate this question with a person who did something remarkably brilliant during the music creation process —whether a lyric, arrangement, mix etc. Such a person is perceived to have exceptional ‘Music IQ’.
A&R: Again generalizing, A&R people sometimes attribute ‘Music IQ’ to those who see the brilliance in being able to recognize greatness before it happens, and also have the instinct an skills to take talent in raw form and make it great.
The Influencer: These are the people that everyone knows to go to for learning about interesting things related to music. They are not necessarily hipsters or chart masters, but can be lawyers, underwriters, or dishwashers. They are respected for their musical knowledge and taste, and are perceived to have higher ‘Music IQ’ than anyone else hanging around the virtual water cooler.

In my opinion all 3 are valid, but how could one ever quantify or compare those subjective factors on a scale similar to an IQ scale? Subjectively everyone knows it when they see it, but objectively it’s more difficult.

That said, you are probably still reading this article because it certainly is an intriguing question. I believe that there is benefit to allowing people at least one context to objectively compare ‘Music IQ’ if it can be channeled into helping artists consistently create marketable music that earns artists money and generates quality new music.

For example, objective ‘hit picking’ metrics can be created by tracking and aggregating sales, subscription, and social metrics across broad sets of related recordings, and tracking those fans, artists, or music industry gurus, that can pick tunes that later turn out to have done well. From a music market perspective, this is akin to ‘Music IQ’. Couple it with transparency plus access to those who consistently outperform their peers in predicting success, and real value is injected into the entire music community. Fans can be organic influencers, artists can gain insight and comparative data into what works and what doesn’t for different demographics, and the music business itself can become more efficient because it can focus resources where they have a better chance of success.

So will the world be a better place when “What’s your Music IQ?” becomes a meaningful way people could comparatively engage in music while also benefiting the music community? I think it can without in any way diminishing the less quantifiable musical genius recognized in camps #1, #2, or #3.

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Jim Hodson is the founder and FanZero of IQzic and is dedicated to making every meaningful musical connection that should happen, happen.