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

Starman

Starman is in F major at 100.6 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

101 BPM · Andantemedian of 546 analyses · 100.6–101.5 across the middle eight tenths
Key
F major1 flat · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
94%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
546people who ran the extractor
One beat
596.4milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
439.5Hz · -2 cents from A 440
Dynamics
4.7dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.759Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.137Essentia'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

546 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 94% — put it in F major, a key signature of 1 flat. The tempo printed above is the median of the 546 readings; 96% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 100.6 BPM one beat lasts 596.4 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 149.1 ms and a dotted eighth 447.3 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 50.3 BPM, counted twice as fast 201.2. A score would mark that Andante, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 439.5 Hz, which is 2 cents below concert A at 440 Hz — close enough to standard that a tuner would not argue. That is a fact about this transfer of the music, not about how it was played.

The dynamic complexity of the recording measures 4.7 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 0.759 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 F 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 F major

Each of these differs from F 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 101 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note42385.70.42
Half note21192.80.84
Dotted quarter1.5894.61.12
Quarter note (one beat)1596.41.68
Quarter triplet0.667397.62.52
Dotted eighth0.75447.32.24
Eighth note0.5298.23.35
Eighth triplet0.333198.85.03
Dotted sixteenth0.375223.74.47
Sixteenth note0.25149.16.71
Sixteenth triplet0.16799.410.06
Thirty-second note0.12574.613.41

Half time 50.3 BPM · double time 201.2 BPM. Every row is one beat (596.4 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. OverDrakeF major101BPM
  2. Florida KilosLana Del ReyF major101BPM
  3. The Downward Spiral (The Bottom)Nine Inch NailsF major100BPM
  4. It’s Only LoveBryan Adams with Tina TurnerF major101BPM
  5. Neon Meate Dream of a OctafishCaptain Beefheart & His Magic BandF major101BPM
  6. LDNLily AllenF major100BPM
  7. We’re in This TogetherNine Inch NailsF major100BPM
  8. Right Next to the Right OneCéline DionF major101BPM
  9. King Harvest (Has Surely Come)The BandF major100BPM
  10. RunawayThe CorrsF major101BPM

Recordings in F major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 101 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in F majorAll songs at 101 BPMF major at 100–109 BPMDavid Bowie

MusicBrainz collapses 60 recording ids into this one. Recording id 308bc940-c25c-4847-ab55-4c4cf22683bc.