8.17.22

Capstone #1: Radio Data in a Digital Age: Tracking Charting History on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart

In August, 2022 – I completed my first real data science project. This was based on an A/B test that used statistical analysis in Python. I examined the charting history of power gold hits from the 1970s-1990s and compared that to the charting history of power gold hits release after 1999 to evidently prove that digital music content delivery made a difference in how long songs chart since the launching of Napster in 1999.

It was really exciting to find corroborating data-based evidence from RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) and various tech articles that supported my conclusions and recommendations. 

There were a lot of other lessons in this project beyond what the data said. I initially “failed” this project as I didn’t interpret the data correctly in my first submission. I was guided to consider other approaches and statistical tests and for my second attempt (what you see online), it was much more thorough and correct. This was a great lesson in learning more methods, more approach techniques, and in generally understanding more about the intricate processes of what was really a first attempt at EDA (exploratory data analysis).

• finished a great book about the power, concerns, and potential of Data Science, namely Artificial Intelligence
• got fast-tracked to my Data Science Bootcamp from Thinkful – I start tomorrow!
• I’m involved in a huge passion project around my college radio station – KTXT-FM

30-year communicator and 20-yr front end web dev and digital marketing strategist leaves Communications to become a Data Scientist. It’s time to go behind the curtain and discover the story within the data.

After 30 years of talking, I’m going to listen. I’m going to listen between the lines….of code

My statement of purpose as I apply for bootcamp.