Using Google Trends to compare sequencers.

Posted August 24th, 2008 by Oliver Chesler
Filed Under: Propellerhead Reason


YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Uh6rGYiDDk

Here’s an interesting “vlog” from a guy who calls himself Hydlide. He’s from The Netherlands (as you can tell by his accent) and is a Reason freak. What I find interesting is how he uses Google Trends to compare the popularity of sequencing apps. The good stuff starts around 2:19. I think he makes an error because if he compares Reason 4 to Ableton Live. Shouldn’t he compare Reason 4 to Ableton Live 7? I put that data into Google Trends and it reads quite differently than his assumptions.

I also think it’s a bit silly of him to knock Fruity Loops as just for noobs and therefore worthless. I’ll make music by clapping my hands and humming if I have to. Hydlide also says he hates all VSTs. Huh?

I know I am picking on Hydlide a bit so I have to say he has a great YouTube channel of Reason tutorials. If you use Reason definitely head on over. I am sure you can pickup some new techniques:
www.youtube.com/user/hydlide24

You can use use Google Trends to compare search popularity of other things too. Take a look at this comparison of Depeche Mode vs MGMT: click here

Interesting no?

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6 Responses to “Using Google Trends to compare sequencers.”
  1. volker Says:
    August 25th, 2008 at 1:15 am

    if you compare “propellerheads reason” with “ableton live”, which I think is the right search string, ableton is much more popular…

    it is interesting to compare “propellerheads reason 4″ with “ableton live 7″ you can see that the graph just starts as the software was announced…

    google is soo spooky

  2. Peter Kirn Says:
    August 25th, 2008 at 6:40 am

    Wow, random. Yes, it’s clear he uses Reason and really has no idea what FL and Live are about. So be it — sounds like he’s happy with Reason. And if he hates VSTs, he’s found the perfect tool! (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)

    But if you want to compare software by Google Trends, the only really reliable way to do it is via the new website ranking, because that would get around people who search for, say, “ableton live 7″ versus “ableton” versus “live 7″ etc.:
    http://trends.google.com/websites?q=cakewalk.com%2C+ableton.com%2C+http%3A%2F%2Fwww.propellerheads.se%2F&geo=all&date=all&sort=0

    The problem is, what you get is really the search volume for the site. I’m guessing the Props site comes out way ahead because of regularly hosting download content. You’ll also notice search volume in general has fallen off over the summer; *that* trend I can definitely vouch for.

    But Google in general is a poor indication of the popularity of software. Too many other variables. It’s interesting for search / Web analysis, but not much else.

  3. dan foley Says:
    August 26th, 2008 at 1:22 am

    The most popular search for propellerheads reason would be simply “reason”, although this would be polluted by additional searchers seeking some sort of philosophical adjunct. The fairest comparison might be “reason 4″ and “live 7″. I’d say a lot of people dont use “propellerheads” as a search term, because it’s a bit long and awkward. Agreeing with Peter, it’s difficult to draw conclusions from such simple searches - a much more detailed analysis would be required to determine the relative popularity of these programs in the search engines…

  4. Lost Says:
    August 29th, 2008 at 4:04 pm

    Psh! Reasons for noobs. :) Ableton for life!

  5. Hydlide Says:
    September 10th, 2008 at 9:55 am

    and yet another bashing contest has begun… you do know what started this whole post in the first place don’t you? People have been bashing me from day one… How many times I have had to delete comments inside my complete video series where people bash on me.

    Get your story straight: I have nothing against with Ableton Live. I just don’t prefer to use it. The bashing part on FL, makes perfect sense to me. I have been using FL. I know how it works… But by the fact that most FL people bash me, I had to come up with my response. And I have said: I hate 95% of VSTs.. Not all of them!

    If you quote me, then quote me correctly… Thank you

  6. Oliver Chesler Says:
    September 10th, 2008 at 10:15 am

    Hi Hydlide. I really like your videos.. very good… and sorry for the misquote. That said, I would still say it’s silly to hate 95% (smiles). I wouldn’t worry too much about YouTube comments they are notoriously full of bad behavior.