Another industry secret is out. A Spanish company, Polyphonic HMI, has been flogging Hit Song Science (HSS) to major record labels to perform statistical analysis on their acts. Despite only working on previous trends (with no ability to determine new popular forms), HSS analyses mathematical patterns in music such as melody, pitch and tempo and compares against known hits.
No word on when the movie industry equivalent is due out.
http://www.hitsongscience.com/
This should be a boon for execs who aren't interested personally in the media they sell. "Just get A&R to run the numbers"...