Obscurify is an innovative web platform that provides music listeners with fascinating insights into their listening habits. Developed by Alex Olivero and Nirmal Patel, Obscurify connects with your Spotify account to analyze your streaming data and quantify how unique your music taste is compared to other users.
The core offering of Obscurify Music is an “obscurity rating” – a percentage score indicating how mainstream or niche your artist preferences are. The higher your obscurity score, the more distinctive your music taste profile is judged to be.
Beyond just a number, Obscurify also provides genre analysis, top tracks, favorite decades, mood analysis, and personalized music recommendations. It aims to help both casual listeners and devoted audiophiles better understand their listening preferences through data.
What is Obscurify
Obscurify Music is a web application that works by linking with your Spotify account once you sign up. It uses Spotify’s API to access your recent streaming history and key profile data.
Obscurify then applies proprietary algorithms to analyze your top artists, tracks, genres, and playlists. It processes this data against listening patterns from over 120 million Spotify users to quantify your taste preferences statistically.
This analysis forms the foundation for calculating your obscurity rating as well as offering supplemental insights into your music taste profile – from preferred decades to audio attributes like danceability.
Getting Started with Obscurify Music
Getting started with Obscurify Music takes just a couple of quick steps. Just visit the Obscurify website and click the “Login” button. After granting the app permission to access your streaming data, Obscurify will start crunching the numbers behind the scenes.
Within moments, your personalized music profile will be ready – a vibrant dashboard packed with all sorts of compelling insights. From your Obscurity Rating front-and-center to detailed breakdowns of your top genres and emotional audio attributes, mentally prepare yourself to see your musical persona in an entirely new light.
Features of Obscurify
Obscurify Music packs an array of useful features to help you better understand and explore your music taste:
- Obscurity Rating: The obscurity percentage score is Obscurify’s premier offering. Ranging from 0-100%, your rating indicates how mainstream or niche your artist preferences are determined to be based on play counts.
- Genre Analysis: See your top 5 Spotify genres calculated from your streaming activity. Click any genre to view top artists and sample recommended tracks in that style.
- Top Tracks: View your 50 most played tracks on Spotify and see interesting listening stats like the first play date and total streams.
- Decade Analysis: Obscurify breakdowns of which decades most of your music originates from based on release year, like the 90s, 80s, etc. Provides perspective on how current your tastes are.
- Audio Attributes: Discover audio analysis of your top tracks – are they happier or sad? Mellow or energetic? Acoustic or electronic?
- Share Profile: Easily share your taste profile with friends via a personalized link. Compare obscurity ratings and top tracks for fun musical debates.
Understanding Your Obscurity Rating
Your Obscurity Rating is the key metric at the center of the Obscurify Music experience. But how is this number actually calculated?
Obscurify compares the popularity of the specific artists and tracks you listen to most frequently against the listening habits of other Spotify users. The more you favor niche, lesser-known acts, the higher your Obscurity Rating will be.
Behind the scenes, Obscurify uses Spotify’s data to estimate the relative popularity of different artists and songs. Major stars like Drake or Taylor Swift are considered highly popular, while underground indie bands may only be narrowly popular among a small group of listeners.
Obscurify then look at your list of most played artists and tracks. It calculates the average popularity of these favorites compared to the overall Spotify user base. If your top music skews extremely unpopular and obscure, you’ll score an elite-level high Obscurity Rating.
The higher your rating, the more you can claim to have a truly distinctive, unconventional music taste that differs from mainstream preferences. For many Obscurify users, a high rating becomes a point of pride, allowing them to boast about their refined, non-basic music opinions.
How To Get Obscurify
Getting started with Obscurify couldn’t be simpler. All you need is an existing Spotify account (even free accounts work) to sync up.
Step 1:- Visit the Obscurify Website
Visit the Obscurify website from your device—be it your phone, tablet, or computer.
Step 2: Log in with Spotify
Click on the “Login” button on the Obscurify website to connect it to your Spotify account.
Step 3: Agree to Permissions
After clicking “Login,” you’ll be redirected to a Spotify login page. Enter your Spotify credentials and agree to the permissions requested by Obscurify.
Step 4: View Your Music Insights
Once logged in and granted permission, Obscurify will analyze your Spotify data and display your music insights. This includes your top genres, top artists, and how your music taste compares to others in terms of obscurity.
Step 5: Explore Additional Features
Obscurify also provides mood analysis of your playlists, categorizing songs based on happiness, energy, and danceability. You can see your music preferences by decade and get recommendations based on your listening habits.
Step 6: Share Your Results
If you wish to share your Obscurify insights, you can generate a unique link on the website and share it with friends or on social media.
Step 7: Disconnecting Obscurify (Optional)
If you decide to revoke Obscurify’s access to your Spotify account, you can do so by going to your Spotify account settings, navigating to the “Apps” section, and removing access to Obscurify.
Obscurify vs. Other Music Analysis Tools
While Spotify offers its own annual Wrapped feature, Obscurify provides a more detailed and ongoing analysis of a user’s music taste. It differs from other tools like Last.fm by focusing on the obscurity of music preferences rather than just tracking listening history. Obscurify’s unique selling point is its ability to quantify the uniqueness of a listener’s taste and provide a platform for music discovery beyond mainstream trends.
Is Obscurify Safe
For some Spotify users, handing over their streaming data to a third-party app may raise some privacy concerns. However, Obscurify is upfront about what data it accesses and stores.
When you register with Obscurify, you are shown exactly what Spotify profile information the app requires to function. This includes your username, country, streaming history, and playlists.
Obscurify states that your personal data is not sold or shared with any other platforms. The app only utilizes your Spotify statistics internally to calculate your results and music recommendations.
Additionally, since Obscurify is an open-source platform available on GitHub, users can review the code to understand how their information is processed if they wish.
Many users also appreciate that removing Obscurify’s access to your Spotify account after registering only takes a few simple clicks in your profile settings. So, Yes, Obscurify is safe to use with your Spotify account.
How Obscure Is My Spotify Music Taste?
I took the analysis for a spin with my own Spotify account to see where I land on the obscurity spectrum.
My Obscurify Breakdown
Logging into Obscurify Music with my Spotify credentials took seconds. Straight away I received a personalized obscurity rating and music profile:
My Obscurity Rating
A score of 98% puts me firmly in obscure territory! My top genres skewed heavily toward pop, rock, soul music, etc.
Scrolling down, I discovered my favorite decade was the 2023s. However, the app suggests I should diversify into more 2010s and earlier tracks.
The audio attribute mood analysis also correctly flagged my taste as quite danceable but more chill rather than energetic.
Finally, the profile-sharing link allows me to boast about my obscurity cred to friends!
FAQs About Obscurify Music
Here are answers to some frequently asked questions about Obscurify Music:
How accurate is my Obscurify obscurity rating?
Obscurify benchmarks your artist preferences against over 120 million other Spotify listeners, making it highly accurate in quantifying your music taste uniqueness.
Does Obscurify work for Spotify free accounts?
Yes! Obscurify connects seamlessly with both free and premium Spotify accounts. All you need is an active Spotify account.
Can I remove Obscurify’s access to my Spotify data?
Yes! Just head to your Spotify account settings, click on “Apps”, select Obscurify, and click “Remove Access”. This will instantly revoke the app’s permissions.
What does a higher obscurity rating mean?
A higher obscurity percentage indicates your music taste aligns more closely with lesser-known artists and songs, compared to the average Spotify listener in your country.
Final Words
Obscurify offers an intriguing glimpse into your unique listening habits by connecting your Spotify profile. Beyond just the obscurity rating benchmarking your music taste, the surrounding analysis provides a useful perspective into your preferences.
Ultimately, Obscurify is designed for Spotify music lovers to enjoyably learn about their listening patterns, not to judge tastes as good or bad. If you’re curious about what your score might be, connecting Spotify takes just a moment. Discover something new about your favorite tracks!