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ISMIR
2002
3rd International Conference on
Music Information Retrieval
IRCAM – Centre
Pompidou
Paris, France
October 13-17, 2002
CLOSING REMARKS
As
ISMIR is drawing to its end, let me first remind you that there are three
exciting panel sessions tomorrow. The multiplicity of interesting topics and
speakers has been the reason for parallelizing some of the ISMIR program, to
the chagrin of some who would have liked to be everywhere (and also visit
Paris), and this would really be the only morally justified argument for
research in human cloning.
Speaking
of research – which, in French, is the same word than the one used for
“search” – let me share very briefly a few thoughts about ISMIR. Speaking at
the “meta” level, these are, in my opinion, some of the challenges and stakes
that we will have to face:
·
Scientific ones: these issues are indeed well addressed, in many ways, here. We
will have to take particular care in reflecting and holding the right balance
between cutting edge research and innovation, on the one hand, and continuing
work on existing paradigms and improving current technology on the other
hand. Innovation, the hardest thing to decree, might have better chances to
occur if we do indeed strive on multidisciplinarity without losing our
identity, encourage it, and improve our communication skills not within our
own specialty, but between specialists of different branches, from computer
science and digital signal processing to information and library sciences,
perception, musicology, law, business and many others.
·
Economical: there is a tension between the (shorter term) interests of
“industry” and “the [entertainment] market” on the one hand and the intellectual/longer
term goals of “academic research”. Who would have imagined the “real life”
applications of Fermat’s Theorem or Gallois’ Field Theory (after all my first
academic training was in number theory)? So one should definitely not dismiss
what appears at first to be an idle pursuit. Rather than ignore this tension
between industry and academia, both “camps” should turn it into something
positive (in the same way we saw earlier today the ways in which “web
metadata” started influencing “library metadata” and conversely).
·
The legal aspect was quite
absent from ISMIR this year, but as you may be aware, these are very complex
issues when “merely” considering music on the Internet, say (I don’t believe
that it will ever become a “free” fluid – is there a free fluid? Fluids are
becoming more and more expensive. But as predictions go…). But when
considering derived elements (music excerpts, incipits, summaries and so on)
they may also be subject to complicated legal issues.
·
Finally, one should not overlook the
multicultural and social aspects of our domain. Music is not
just 17th-19th century Western European music, but is
many other things, as those of you who came to yesterday’s concert may have
heard, and as the ethnomusicologist Simha Arom will most probably broach upon
tomorrow at the Similarities panel.
Having thanked many people and organizations who helped in the
making of ISMIR 2002, I’d like to thank, this time, in particular, all of
you: the authors and the public, and hope you continue developing this field
we all like.
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