Song Zero

Music doesn't happen in isolation. Every song is the child of what came before it and the parent of what came after — but that lineage is invisible when you press play. Streaming services give you infinite tracks and zero context. "Related artists" and algorithmic radio optimize for what keeps you listening, not for how a genre was actually born, who borrowed from whom, or which 1929 recording is quietly responsible for a song you love. If you want to genuinely understand a piece of music — its ancestry and its descendants — you're left stitching together Wikipedia tabs, forum threads, and guesswork. Song Zero starts with a single anchor track — the Song Zero — and builds a genealogy around it. Everything recorded before it is a root. Everything it influenced is a branch. The result is a map, not a ranking: a way to hear how a sound traveled across decades, countries, and cultures to arrive at one moment, and where it went next. Each Song Zero becomes a complete, shareable package: - A curated playlist — the roots and branches in listening order, playable on Spotify. - An interactive family tree — a color-coded timeline where every track is a node placed by year, with Song Zero at the center. Roots converge above it; branches spread below. - Researched blurbs — a short, sourced note on every track explaining its place in the lineage. Volume 1 traces the Tielman Brothers' Rollin' Rock (1960): 65 tracks across 8 branches spanning 1929–2001 — from Kroncong and Delta Blues through Gospel, Jump Blues, Rockabilly, Ska, Dutch rock, and Psychobilly. How it works: 1. You pick a song. That track becomes the Song Zero. 2. A research pipeline maps its lineage. It identifies whether the song is a cover and finds the original and its cover chain, then pulls "influenced by" (roots) and "influenced" (branches) relationships from music databases to assemble the branches. 3. Every claim is fact-checked. Blurbs are generated with sources and verdicts attached — verified, disputed, or unverifiable — so the story you're reading is grounded, not invented. Sparse data produces a shorter, honest playlist rather than a fabricated one. 4. The genealogy assembles live. As tracks are confirmed, branch columns and nodes populate in real time — the wait is the experience. 5. You get a shareable result. A playlist to save, an interactive visualization to explore, and liner notes to download — plus a permalink to send anyone. Standout Song Zeros can be submitted for publication on the public platform. You can try it without an account. Saving, exporting, sharing, and submitting for publication require a quick sign-in. Who it's for: Curious listeners, crate-diggers, music writers, educators, and anyone who has ever wondered where a song actually comes from — and wanted the answer as something they can play, see, and share.