David Bowie · Tonight

Tonight

Tonight is in A major at 98.5 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

99 BPM · Andantemedian of 148 analyses · 98.3–101.5 across the middle eight tenths
Key
A major3 sharps · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
97%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
148people who ran the extractor
One beat
609.1milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
441.5Hz · +6 cents from A 440
Dynamics
4.53dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.866Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.205Essentia'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

148 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. All but a handful of them — 97% — put it in A major, a key signature of 3 sharps. The tempo printed above is the median of the 148 readings; 90% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 98.3 to 101.5 BPM.

At 98.5 BPM one beat lasts 609.1 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 152.3 ms and a dotted eighth 456.9 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 49.3 BPM, counted twice as fast 197. A score would mark that Andante, by the ranges this site uses.

The analyses put the reference pitch of the recording at 441.5 Hz, which is 6 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 4.53 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 0.866 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 A 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 A major

Each of these differs from A 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 note42436.50.41
Half note21218.30.82
Dotted quarter1.5913.71.09
Quarter note (one beat)1609.11.64
Quarter triplet0.667406.12.46
Dotted eighth0.75456.92.19
Eighth note0.5304.63.28
Eighth triplet0.3332034.93
Dotted sixteenth0.375228.44.38
Sixteenth note0.25152.36.57
Sixteenth triplet0.167101.59.85
Thirty-second note0.12576.113.13

Half time 49.3 BPM · double time 197 BPM. Every row is one beat (609.1 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. Walking in Your FootstepsThe PoliceA major98BPM
  2. Brass in PocketPretendersA major98BPM
  3. To FranceMike OldfieldA major98BPM
  4. Whipping PostThe Allman Brothers BandA major98BPM
  5. When the Music’s OverThe DoorsA major99BPM
  6. Is It True?EaglesA major99BPM
  7. And You Tell Mea‐haA major98BPM
  8. I Want It That WayBackstreet BoysA major99BPM
  9. Never Gonna Say I’m SorryAce of BaseA major99BPM
  10. (Just Like) Starting OverJohn Lennon & Yoko OnoA major99BPM

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

All songs in A majorAll songs at 99 BPMA major at 90–99 BPMDavid Bowie

MusicBrainz collapses 1 recording id into this one. Recording id 4e197fb9-60bb-4ae6-aa30-3bb2bd64afbc.