Predicting Development of Research in Music Based on Parallels with Natural Language Processing

The hypothesis of the paper is that the domain of Natural Languages Processing (NLP) resembles current research in music so one could benefit from this by employing NLP techniques to music. In this paper the similarity between both domains is described. The levels of NLP are listed with pointers to respective tasks within the research of computational music. A brief introduction to history of NLP enables locating music research in this history. Possible directions of research in music, assuming its affinity to NLP, are introduced. Current research in generational and statistical music modeling is compared to similar NLP theories. The paper is concluded with guidelines for music research and information retrieval.