Yes, it did.
In fact, the overall predictions were all over the blogosphere. And even when I wrote last, I glossed over it, cursorily thinking to myself "way off, but let's see." (As a reminder here are Shazam's predictions. And for reference here is how the Grammy win's actually netted out.)
Record of the Year -- "Get Lucky" -- Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers
Album of the Year -- "Random Access Memories" -- Daft Punk
Song of the Year -- "Royals" -- Lorde -- WINNER
Best New Artist -- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
Best Dance/Eletronica Album -- "Random Access Memories" -- Daft Punk
Best Country Album -- "Same Trailer Different Park" -- Kacey Musgraves
Best Rap Album -- "The Heist" -- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
As this is part of the new conversation in our ever-increasingly, evidenced-based world, many of us are curious to see just how much can be gleaned from the approach of predictive modeling in relation to something as subjective as music.
What is most fascinating about this is to see that of the seven predictions, the ONLY two that aligned with the Grammy wins were both for Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.
Even more interesting is that this indicated the Best Rap Album upset that eventually made headlines -- including Macklemore's text to Kendrick Lamar relaying his surprise in his own win.
What this illustrates to me is that there is something in this, and over time-- as this is only the second Grammy show that either Shazam or Spotify did predictions for-- the technology and the algorithms might actually give us meaningful indicators of chasms that exist between fans and their interpretation of the awards themselves.
We all know that since music is subjective, and the nature of criteria for awards in these types of industries is as well, it might take a while for this to reveal how it could be applicable, but it is indeed the journey that makes it most valuable.
I suspect if Google has any access to this data, it will be informing the emotional connections we humans have with music. Makes me wonder what Siri thinks of all this.
I might just ask her for predictions next year, too.