Kallitone Reports Results From 25,000 Blind Music Comparisons

Kallitone logo

Listeners compared 500 tracks without seeing artist names. All 40 identified as AI-generated scored below the catalogue's average rating.

LONDON, LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM, October 27, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Kallitone is publishing results from 25,000 blind music comparisons after a year of beta testing. The project examines whether large numbers of direct human choices can help unfamiliar music find an audience.

The beta involved 500 tracks, including 460 by independent musicians and 40 identified as AI-generated. Each track participated in 100 completed comparisons, producing 50,000 track appearances across 25,000 paired voting decisions.

The aim is to give music a hearing before the artist's name or existing reputation enters the decision, then turn those individual preferences into rankings that others can explore.

During voting, listeners hear excerpts selected randomly from within two recordings, with a minimum listening requirement of 15 seconds per track. The excerpts are not automatically taken from the beginning of a song. Artist identities are withheld while listeners compare the recordings and choose their preference.

Completed votes contribute to Elo-style ratings. The system uses the outcomes of comparisons and the ratings of competing tracks, rather than simply ordering music by its total number of favourable votes.

The resulting Top 20 contains tracks from 10 artist projects. Its tags span electronic music, indie pop, piano ballads, rock, blues, grunge, acoustic music and reggae. This snapshot illustrates the range of styles represented among the recordings selected by participating listeners.

All 40 tracks identified as AI-generated scored below the evaluated catalogue's reported average Elo rating of 1250. The highest-rated AI-generated track scored 1244. These are descriptive results from the beta repertoire and its participants, rather than a general verdict on AI-generated music.

Kallitone's wider interest is in the organisation of discovery. A catalogue can be evaluated through many small contributions, with each listener making a manageable choice between two recordings. The software aggregates those choices into ratings, while the preferences themselves come directly from listeners.

Further testing would be needed to assess how the approach performs with larger catalogues and audiences. The current beta offers an initial example that visitors can explore through Kallitone's public listening page. Rankings may change as further votes are cast.

About Kallitone

Kallitone is a music discovery platform based in Bucharest, Romania, operated by Orkaan Studio S.R.L. It uses blind listening comparisons and listener choices to help organise independent music for discovery.

Octavian Cristea
ORKAAN STUDIO SRL
+40 722 884 877
octavian@kallitone.com
Visit us on social media:
LinkedIn
Instagram
Other