TempoPeek

Michael Jackson · Bad

Speed Demon

Speed Demon is in C major at 98.9 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

99 BPM · Andantemedian of 201 analyses · 98.9–98.9 across the middle eight tenths
Key
C majorno sharps and no flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
100%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
201people who ran the extractor
One beat
606.7milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
Dynamics
4.06dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.901Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.318Essentia'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

201 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 100% — put it in C major, a key signature of no sharps and no flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 201 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.

At 98.9 BPM one beat lasts 606.7 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 151.7 ms and a dotted eighth 455 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 49.5 BPM, counted twice as fast 197.8. A score would mark that Andante, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 434.2 Hz, which is 23 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 4.06 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 0.901 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 C 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 C major

Each of these differs from C 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 99 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note42426.70.41
Half note21213.30.82
Dotted quarter1.59101.1
Quarter note (one beat)1606.71.65
Quarter triplet0.667404.42.47
Dotted eighth0.754552.2
Eighth note0.5303.33.3
Eighth triplet0.333202.24.95
Dotted sixteenth0.375227.54.4
Sixteenth note0.25151.76.59
Sixteenth triplet0.167101.19.89
Thirty-second note0.12575.813.19

Half time 49.5 BPM · double time 197.8 BPM. Every row is one beat (606.7 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Unchained MelodyThe Righteous BrothersC major99BPM
  2. Good Times, Bad TimesThe Rolling StonesC major99BPM
  3. BurnDeep PurpleC major99BPM
  4. Boris the SpiderThe WhoC major99BPM
  5. Hello GoodbyeThe BeatlesC major99BPM
  6. Misty Morning, Albert BridgeThe PoguesC major98BPM
  7. The Long RunEaglesC major100BPM
  8. As Long as You Love MeBackstreet BoysC major98BPM
  9. Take the Money and RunSteve Miller BandC major98BPM
  10. It Ain't MeKygo & Selena GomezC major100BPM

Recordings in C major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 99 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in C majorAll songs at 99 BPMC major at 90–99 BPMMichael Jackson

MusicBrainz collapses 6 recording ids into this one. Recording id a74b328a-dff5-471b-95e0-805a4f14713e.