The Global Jukebox: A Public Database of Performing Arts and Culture

Abstract

Music, dance, and other performing arts are cultural universals that are found in all societies but that vary within and between them. The lack of standardized cross-cultural databases has impeded scientific understanding of global variation in the arts. We introduce the Global Jukebox (theglobaljukebox.org) as a resource for comparative and cross-cultural study of the performing arts and culture. Its core is the Cantometrics dataset, encompassing standardized codings on 37 aspects of musical style for 5,783 traditional songs from 991 societies. The Cantometrics dataset has been thoroughly cleaned and checked for reliability and accuracy. Eight additional datasets code elements of instrumentation, conversation, popular music and other aspects of expressive culture. For the first time, all digitized Global Jukebox data is being made available in open-access, machine-readable format, linked with streaming audiovisual files to the maximum extent allowed while respecting copyright and the wishes of culture-bearers. The data is cross-indexed with two leading cross-cultural databases: the Database of Peoples, Languages, and Cultures (D-PLACE) and eHRAF World Cultures. This allows researchers to test hypotheses about worldwide aesthetic patterns and traditions. We will use modern phylogenetic comparative methods to reanalyze the original proposals by Alan Lomax and his research team regarding coevolutionary relationships between the performing arts, social structure, and human history. The Global Jukebox adds a large and detailed global database of the performing arts to enrich our understanding of the science of human cultural diversity.