TempoPeek

Sting · The Soul Cages

Why Should I Cry for You (radio mix)

Why Should I Cry for You (radio mix) is in A flat major at 81 beats per minute.

4080120160200

Tempo

81 BPM · Andantemedian of 157 analyses · 80.9–104.1 across the middle eight tenths
Key
A♭ major4 flats · the key most of the analyses agreed on
Agreement
80%share of analyses that agreed
Analyses
157people who ran the extractor
One beat
740.7milliseconds, 60,000 ÷ BPM
Tuning
441.3Hz · +5 cents from A 440
Dynamics
4.89dB the level wanders from its average
Loudness
0.615Essentia's 0–1 scale, not dB
Danceability
1.076Essentia'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

157 independent analyses of this recording were submitted to AcousticBrainz. Most of them — 80% — put it in A flat major, a key signature of 4 flats. The tempo printed above is the median of the 157 readings; 87% of them land within 2% of it, and the middle eight tenths of them run from 80.9 to 104.1 BPM.

At 81 BPM one beat lasts 740.7 milliseconds, so a sixteenth note is 185.2 ms and a dotted eighth 555.6 ms — the delay times for this recording. Counted half as fast it is 40.5 BPM, counted twice as fast 162. A score would mark that Andante, 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 4.89 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 0.615 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 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 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 81 BPM

Note valueBeatsMillisecondsHertz
Whole note429630.34
Half note21481.50.68
Dotted quarter1.51111.10.9
Quarter note (one beat)1740.71.35
Quarter triplet0.667493.82.03
Dotted eighth0.75555.61.8
Eighth note0.5370.42.7
Eighth triplet0.333246.94.05
Dotted sixteenth0.375277.83.6
Sixteenth note0.25185.25.4
Sixteenth triplet0.167123.58.1
Thirty-second note0.12592.610.8

Half time 40.5 BPM · double time 162 BPM. Every row is one beat (740.7 ms) times the fraction in the second column.

Closest in key and tempo

  1. So BadEminemA♭ major81BPM
  2. Love HurtsCherA♭ major80BPM
  3. HunterBjörkA♭ major80BPM
  4. Got Me WrongAlice in ChainsA♭ major84BPM
  5. EbudæEnyaA♭ major78BPM
  6. That’s EnoughRay CharlesA♭ major77BPM
  7. Same LoveMacklemore & Ryan Lewis feat. Mary LambertA♭ major85BPM
  8. Oh LoveGreen DayA♭ major85BPM
  9. I’m Looking Through YouThe BeatlesA♭ major86BPM
  10. We Own It (Fast & Furious)2 Chainz & Wiz KhalifaA♭ major86BPM

Recordings in A flat major, ordered by how near their tempo is to 81 BPM. A calculation, not a recommendation.

All songs in A flat majorAll songs at 81 BPMA♭ major at 80–89 BPMSting

MusicBrainz collapses 2 recording ids into this one. Recording id dd666c72-0de6-45b6-a9e8-a29ffc356f30.