Automatic Generation of Music Thumbnails

Automatic generation of music thumbnails based on content analysis is important for efficient management and better consumption of digital music. In this paper, a unique method for extracting thumbnails from a song based on structure analysis of the music piece is presented. First, paragraphs in the song with repeated melody are detected; next, vocal portions in the song are identified. With such information, the structure of the song is derived. Then, one or more thumbnails of the song can be selected according to the song structure and heuristic rules. This approach has proved to be effective when tested on a variety of music pieces. It takes only a couple of seconds to process each song. The method was integrated into a music search system. Also, a demo was built based on it, which lets the user instantly view the structure and thumbnails of any song he selects.