TempoPeek

David Bowie · The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars

Lady Stardust

Lady Stardust is in A major at 128.6 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

129 BPM · Allegromedian of 298 analyses · 128.6–128.8 across the middle eight tenths
Key
A major3 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
98%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
298people who ran the extractor
One beat
466.6milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
441.8Hz · +7 cents from A 440
Dynamics
6.48dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.822Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.165Essentia's danceability, 0–3

Source: AcousticBrainz, dump of 2022-06-23 (CC0) · MusicBrainz core data, 2026-09-17 (CC0) · how each number is measured. Measured up to 23.06.2022 — AcousticBrainz stopped collecting in 2022, so nothing released after that date is here.

What the numbers say

298 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 98% — put it in A major, a key signature of 3 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 298 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 128.6 BPM one beat lasts 466.6 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 116.6 ms and a dotted eighth 349.9 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 64.3 BPM, counted twice as fast 257.2. A score would mark that Allegro, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 441.8 Hz, which is 7 cents above concert A at 440 Hz — the sort of drift a tape machine or a slightly different mastering leaves behind. That is a fact about this transfer of the music, not about how it was played.

The dynamic complexity of the recording measures 6.48 dB: that is how far the level wanders from its own average, so a small number means a loud, flat master and a large one means a recording that still breathes. Its average loudness is 0.822 on Essentia's 0-to-1 scale, which is not decibels and is not comparable to a streaming service's number.

10 other recordings here are in A major; the ones listed below are the closest in tempo.

Beats per bar are not in this dataset. AcousticBrainz's analysis reports a tempo, a key and a loudness, and no time signature at all, so this page does not print one — a 4/4 here would be a guess dressed as a measurement.

Keys that fit with A major

Each of these differs from A major by at most one accidental, or shares its tonic. That is the whole of what a mixing wheel encodes; here the relations are named instead of numbered.

Delay times at 129 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note41866.30.54
Half note2933.11.07
Dotted quarter1.5699.81.43
Quarter note (one beat)1466.62.14
Quarter triplet0.6673113.22
Dotted eighth0.75349.92.86
Eighth note0.5233.34.29
Eighth triplet0.333155.56.43
Dotted sixteenth0.3751755.72
Sixteenth note0.25116.68.57
Sixteenth triplet0.16777.812.86
Thirty-second note0.12558.317.15

Half time 64.3 BPM · double time 257.2 BPM. Every row is one beat (466.6 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. The Prime Time of Your LifeDaft PunkA major129BPM
  2. Guns for HireAC/DCA major129BPM
  3. BallbreakerAC/DCA major129BPM
  4. The Sky Is CryingEric ClaptonA major129BPM
  5. NudeRadioheadA major129BPM
  6. Celebration DayLed ZeppelinA major128BPM
  7. Zoo StationU2A major129BPM
  8. Say You Love MeFleetwood MacA major128BPM
  9. Beth/RestBon IverA major128BPM
  10. It’s Only Rock ’n’ RollThe Rolling StonesA major129BPM

Recordings in A major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 129 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in A majorAll songs at 129 BPMA major at 120–129 BPMDavid Bowie

MusicBrainz collapses 28 recording ids into this one. Recording id 2ca5c833-8f3d-4566-9d61-a2294ea996ac.