There’s an algorithm that tells you who BigSound’s most hyped acts are

Melbourne-based digital agency Bolster has defined the most talked about artists showcasing at next week’s BigSound conference in Brisbane.

BIGSOUND Buzz was custom built by singer-songwriter and Bolster’s Lead Developer Mike Bywaters (who records as Mike Waters), and designed by Creative Director Nick Humphreys.

Its algorithm searches for mentions from Facebook and Twitter of BigSound’s showcasing artists, like Harts, Tkay Maidza and The Gooch Palms.

Volume, engagement and influence weightings are then applied for those mentions; these include how many times that artist has been mentioned, the number of followers the artist has, and how much engagement the posts themselves have, including comments, likes, follows, reactions etc.

Bolster told TMN the algorithm also includes cheat-preventative measures.

Bolster Digital Director Alex Zaccaria told TMN: “We love BigSound and we wanted to do something unique that also showcases our creative team’s talents.

“We came up initially with the idea of if there was 100% ‘buzz’ available in the valley, who was occupying it,” Zaccaria added. “That’s where the pie chart came from. Then we wanted to showcase everyone, so we put together the leader board and bar graph.”

Currently, Adelaide MC Tkay Maidza tops the chart, followed by Melbourne noise-folk band Tiny Little Houses, Sydney post-punk trio Mere Women, Sydney solo artist and producer Rainbow Chan and New Zealand synth-pop band Yumi Zouma.