I don’t intend for my weblog to become a techno\/trend rag, but I’ll admit to a strange fascination for how new technologies change our behavior, or expose behaviors that have always been there. One particularly interesting question for me is how we cluster our cultural preferences (and how arts organizations do it for us).<\/p>\n
The traditional performing arts center season, for example, is often broken down into ‘tracks’ or smaller subscription series, usually clustered by genre (Broadway series, chamber music series, dance series, world music series, etc.). Programmers figure that if you like The Producers<\/i>, you’ll like Thoroughly Modern Millie<\/i>, and if you like Youssou N’Dour, you’ll like the Lincoln Center Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra.<\/p>\n
These genre categories have always seemed a bit forced to me, and a little too convenient for the presenter\/producer. These are clusters on the supplier’s terms, not the audience’s terms. What if I like some Broadway, but also a certain Latin performer, and the Bulgarian Women’s Chorus, and an obscure folk performer of the 1970s, and an angular jazz pianist…tell me which subscription series is best for me (and don’t just say ‘pick five’…assume I’d like a little help).<\/p>\n
On-line companies like Amazon have been taking another tack on this question for quite some time now. By tracking your actual<\/i> purchases, and comparing your patterns to the millions of other patterns they’ve seen, they can recommend a cluster of books that might be up your alley (not based on some predetermined genre, but on the patterns of actual preferences).<\/p>\n
These companies use a technique called collaborative filtering (see a definition here<\/a>, or a previous weblog entry<\/a> about the technology) to compare your purchase and preference patterns to other users, and to suggest items they also bought. I’m still looking for a performing arts organization that has tried this technology using its ticket purchase data, to see what seasons emerged from actual purchases. If you know of one, let me know.<\/p>\n