R.E.M. · Automatic for the People
Man on the Moon
Man on the Moon is in C major at 118.5 beats per minute.
Tempo
119 BPM · Moderatomedian of 243 analyses · 118.4–118.6 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- C majorno sharps and no flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 98%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 243people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 506.3milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 441.3Hz · +5 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 3.69dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.74Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.015Essentia'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
243 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 98% — put it in C major, a key signature of no sharps and no flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 243 readings; 100% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 118.5 BPM one beat lasts 506.3 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 126.6 ms and a dotted eighth 379.7 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 59.3 BPM, counted twice as fast 237. A score would mark that Moderato, by the ranges this site uses.
The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 441.3 Hz, which is 5 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 3.69 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 0.74 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 119 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 2025.3 | 0.49 |
| Half note | 2 | 1012.7 | 0.99 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 759.5 | 1.32 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 506.3 | 1.98 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 337.6 | 2.96 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 379.7 | 2.63 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 253.2 | 3.95 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 168.8 | 5.93 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 189.9 | 5.27 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 126.6 | 7.9 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 84.4 | 11.85 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 63.3 | 15.8 |
Half time 59.3 BPM · double time 237 BPM. Every row is one beat (506.3 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Hot BloodedForeignerC major119BPM
- bang…Frankie Goes to HollywoodC major119BPM
- JoeyConcrete BlondeC major119BPM
- I’m Not Calling You a LiarFlorence + the MachineC major118BPM
- Ain’t Too Proud to BegThe TemptationsC major119BPM
- Where’s the PartyMadonnaC major119BPM
- Super TrouperABBAC major118BPM
- Loving the AlienDavid BowieC major118BPM
- Tout l’or des hommesCéline DionC major118BPM
- Love in the First DegreeBananaramaC major119BPM
Recordings in C major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 119 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in C majorAll songs at 119 BPMC major at 110–119 BPMR.E.M.
MusicBrainz collapses 87 recording ids into this one. Recording id 1981c7d2-6c89-4c53-935a-890d937159b9.