TempoPeek

David Bowie · The Next Day

Where Are We Now?

Where Are We Now? is in F major at 80 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

80 BPM · Andantemedian of 139 analyses · 79.9–80.1 across the middle eight tenths
Key
F major1 flat · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
91%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
139people who ran the extractor
One beat
750milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
438.2Hz · -7 cents from A 440
Dynamics
4.62dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.777Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.049Essentia'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

139 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 91% — put it in F major, a key signature of 1 flat. The tempo printed above is the median of the 139 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 80 BPM one beat lasts 750 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 187.5 ms and a dotted eighth 562.5 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 40 BPM, counted twice as fast 160. A score would mark that Andante, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 438.2 Hz, which is 7 cents below 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 4.62 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 0.777 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 80 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note430000.33
Half note215000.67
Dotted quarter1.511250.89
Quarter note (one beat)17501.33
Quarter triplet0.6675002
Dotted eighth0.75562.51.78
Eighth note0.53752.67
Eighth triplet0.3332504
Dotted sixteenth0.375281.33.56
Sixteenth note0.25187.55.33
Sixteenth triplet0.1671258
Thirty-second note0.12593.810.67

Half time 40 BPM · double time 160 BPM. Every row is one beat (750 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. RehabRihannaF major80BPM
  2. Rimshot (outro)Erykah BaduF major80BPM
  3. RendezvousCraig DavidF major80BPM
  4. What About LoveHeartF major80BPM
  5. On & OnErykah BaduF major80BPM
  6. End GameTaylor Swift feat. Ed Sheeran & FutureF major80BPM
  7. I’m Supposed to Die Tonight50 CentF major80BPM
  8. Many Men (Wish Death)50 CentF major81BPM
  9. ViennaUltravoxF major81BPM
  10. One Way TicketAretha FranklinF major81BPM

Recordings in F major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 80 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in F majorAll songs at 80 BPMF major at 80–89 BPMDavid Bowie

MusicBrainz collapses 2 recording ids into this one. Recording id 8b1fb6d4-a6d7-44d9-8b9f-fedf7bab62ed.