Nine Inch Nails · Happiness in Slavery
Happiness in Slavery
Happiness in Slavery is in B flat major at 119.8 beats per minute.
Tempo
120 BPM · Moderatomedian of 133 analyses · 119.8–119.9 across the middle eight tenths- Key
- B♭ major2 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
- Agreement
- 93%share of analyses that agreed
- Analyses
- 133people who ran the extractor
- One beat
- 500.8milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
- Tuning
- 434.2Hz · -23 cents from A 440
- Dynamics
- 2.78dB the level wanders from its average
- Loudness
- 0.943Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
- Danceability
- 1.142Essentia'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
133 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 93% — put it in B flat major, a key signature of 2 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 133 readings; 98% of them land within 2% of it, and they barely differ at all.
At 119.8 BPM one beat lasts 500.8 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 125.2 ms and a dotted eighth 375.6 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 59.9 BPM, counted twice as fast 239.6. A score would mark that Moderato, 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 2.78 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 0.943 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 B flat 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 B♭ major
Each of these differs from B♭ 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 120 BPM
| Note value | Beats | Milliseconds | Hertz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole note | 4 | 2003.3 | 0.5 |
| Half note | 2 | 1001.7 | 1 |
| Dotted quarter | 1.5 | 751.3 | 1.33 |
| Quarter note (one beat) | 1 | 500.8 | 2 |
| Quarter triplet | 0.667 | 333.9 | 3 |
| Dotted eighth | 0.75 | 375.6 | 2.66 |
| Eighth note | 0.5 | 250.4 | 3.99 |
| Eighth triplet | 0.333 | 166.9 | 5.99 |
| Dotted sixteenth | 0.375 | 187.8 | 5.32 |
| Sixteenth note | 0.25 | 125.2 | 7.99 |
| Sixteenth triplet | 0.167 | 83.5 | 11.98 |
| Thirty-second note | 0.125 | 62.6 | 15.97 |
Half time 59.9 BPM · double time 239.6 BPM. Every row is one beat (500.8 ms) times the fraction in the second column.
Closest in key and tempo
- Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)Arcade FireB♭ major120BPM
- Never Let GoJosh Groban with Deep ForestB♭ major120BPM
- Blurred LinesRobin Thicke feat. T.I. & Pharrell WilliamsB♭ major120BPM
- Wrecking BallMiley CyrusB♭ major120BPM
- Oh Me Oh My (I’m a Fool for You Baby)Aretha FranklinB♭ major120BPM
- MindfieldsProdigyB♭ major120BPM
- Teenage DreamKaty PerryB♭ major120BPM
- Viva Las VegasZZ TopB♭ major120BPM
- Youngblood5 Seconds of SummerB♭ major120BPM
- Speak to MePink FloydB♭ major120BPM
Recordings in B flat major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 120 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.
All songs in B flat majorAll songs at 120 BPMB♭ major at 110–119 BPMNine Inch Nails
MusicBrainz collapses 42 recording ids into this one. Recording id ad1d725e-cddb-417d-8dc5-f7f7501b29c6.