Chavah Awesomesauce, plus stats on which Messianic artists the community likes most

I was listening to Chavah Messianic Radio the other day and, one after another, I heard songs I just thought were junk.

Usually, I thumb-down songs I don't like; doing so tells Chavah not to play that song for me. But other times, I'm just lazy, and suffer through the bad stuff. It occurred to me that if I play Chavah to an audience of people, I'd be embarrassed about some of the tunes that play on there. Some songs sound too much an imitation of secular music. Some songs are amateur hour. Some songs are more Christian than Messianic. Personal tastes. Some music just isn't uplifting to me.

And that goes for everyone. One person told me recently, "I have to thumb-down half the songs on Chavah before I hear anything I like!"

I sympathize. When I first started Chavah last year, I was very discriminating in the quality of music I allowed on the station. Over time, however, I became more lenient; even though I don't like some of the modern/secular-sounding music, for instance, some Messianics certainly do. My tastes aren't everyone else's. So, I opened the gates. And with the addition of the Upload Your Music To Chavah feature, a wide variety of music flooded the gates, and with my new lenient outlook, most of those made it onto Chavah.

This flood of music making it onto Chavah has had two effects: one positive, one adverse.

1. The good: There's a LOT of music on Chavah, and a lot of variety: thousands of songs, live performances, chants, and prayers; everything from well-known artists like Joel Chernoff and Paul Wilbur, to little-known, independent, and rare tunes from Alexander Roytman, Cari Eyres, Star of David Singers, and other artists you've never heard of.
   
2. The bad: There's a lot of junk music on Chavah.

By junk, I mean music you probably won't like. It's inevitable: with the vast variety on Chavah, you're going to run into stuff you don't like.

I hold a software philosophy that says, "Build the software you want to use, and others will want to use it, too." Applying this to Chavah, I want Chavah to play less junk, less of the stuff I don't like, and more of the stuff I do.

Towards this goal, last night I rolled out a new version of Chavah that includes a major algorithms overhaul.

Previously, Chavah worked like this:

• Look at your song likes and dislikes, and favor playing your liked songs, throw in some unranked songs, and rarely play your dislikes.
• Factor in a small percentage if the song has a net positive rating.
• Favor shabbat songs during shabbat.

This worked OK, except for the aforementioned problem: it played too much junk.

Songs that were negatively rated by the Messianic community would still play regularly, especially if you didn't thumb it down yourself. And Chavah didn't distinguish between songs with, say, a 5 ranking, and songs with a high (20+ or 30+) rank.

With the new overhaul, Chavah's algorithms for choosing songs to play is more intelligent, more discriminating. It now looks like this:

• Apply explicit weights to each song based on popularity: negative songs have tiny weight, little-rated and unrated songs have normal weight, songs with 10-20 rank have heavier weight, and so on.
• Apply feast-specific weights: shabbat songs have higher weight during shabbat, chanukkah songs have more weight during chanukkah, etc.
• Then all this is governed by a personal preference multiplier: if you dislike the song, it will be unlikely to play even if it was weighty from the previous steps. Likewise, songs you haven't ranked use their given weightiness, and songs you've thumbed-up take on a weightiness multiplier.

The weights are then used in a random selector, with the weighty songs more likely to play.

The end result of this algorithm overhaul is that Chavah plays more of the stuff you like, less of the stuff you don't.

Also since many people are listening to Chavah for the first time, or have never rated songs, Chavah will favor playing songs that are highly-ranked by the Messianic community. The idea is, if lots of people thumb-up a particular song, it's likely you will, too. Chavah will occasionally throw in new music that hasn't had many ratings so as to give new albums and songs a chance to gain popularity. Songs that quickly have negative rankings will be rarely played, unless you explicitly thumbed-up them.

Bottom line: Chavah will play more of the good stuff: things you like, and things the Messianic community likes.

What does the Messianic community like?

Last year, I was flipping through TV channels when I came across a Christian version of American Idol. You know, that television program where hopeful singers audition before expert judges, who then tell the singers whether they have any shot at making it in the Big Time.

The Christian version of the show was laughable: the judges gave everyone the thumb-up. Because none of them wanted to say anything bad about the singers, because of western politeness, and because no one wanted to come off all mean and un-Christ-like, the judges just said nice things about each singer that auditioned.

Laughable.

How does that relate to Chavah and the Messianic community?

Well, as it turns out, the anonymity granted by the internet favors honesty over politeness. No one's afraid to thumb-down a song when you don't have to explain to the artist why you think his music is junk. Chavah tricks polite, Christ-following westerners into being brutally honest.

And yes, unlike the Christian American Idol, the Messianic community has been brutally honest! You, the Messianic community, regularly thumb-down the songs you don't like, and that shapes Chavah's own digital brain, inducing her to play more of the good stuff and less of the bad.

Now that Chavah's been in use for over a year, I thought I'd reflect on the things the Messianic community really does like. I've queried my sweet Chavah for these statistics, and she's graciously responded with the following:

Top 25 songs
Song	Artist	Community Rank
We Delight in Your Shabbat	Barry & Batya Segal	62
Baruch Adonai	Joel Chernoff	59
Enter Into Shabbat	Roman and Alaina	52
Kadosh	Barry & Batya Segal	43
Walk in the Light	Ted Pearce	40
Hodu L'Adonai	Barry & Batya Segal	36
Yom Shekulo Shabbat	Steve McConnell	36
We Delight in Your Shabbat	Aviad Cohen	35
Shalom Jerusalem	Israel's Hope	34
Your Name	Zemer Levav	34
Y'hi Shem Adonai M'Vorach	Steve McConnell	33
They Will Bow	Sharon Wilbur	32
Dance With Me	Paul Wilbur	32
Kineti	Ted Pearce	32
Sha'alu Shalom	Ted Pearce	32
Sukkot Song	Steve McConnell	31
The God of Peace	Marty Goetz	31
Gili Meod	Ted Pearce	30
Babylon	Ted Pearce	29
Congregation of the Righteous	Ted Pearce	29
Gadlu l'Adonai Iti	Steve McConnell	29
The Time To Favor Zion	Ted Pearce	29
Zealous Over Zion	Ted Pearce	29
Shalom	Ted Pearce	29
Shabbat Shleva (Sabbath of Peace)	Meha Shamayim	29

 

Top 25 Artists
Artist	Community Rank	Total Songs
Ted Pearce	23.7027027027027	37
Steve McConnell	19.4444444444444	45
Sharon Wilbur	18.4736842105263	19
Barry & Batya Segal	18.3571428571429	42
Israel's Hope	18.28	25
Natasha Kraus-Reynolds	17.9	10
Roman and Alaina	17.2941176470588	17
Meha Shamayim	16.3888888888889	18
Marty Goetz	15.0210526315789	95
Joel Chernoff	13.4838709677419	31
Avner & Rachel Boskey	13.3333333333333	54
Paul Wilbur	13.2396694214876	121
Jimmie Black	12.6	25
Sons of Korah	12.2	25
Zemer Levav	12.0540540540541	37
Micha'el Eliyahu BenDavid	11.265306122449	49
Aviad Cohen	11.26	50
Lev Shelo	10.75	16
Maurice Sklar	9.5	12
Benjamin Malgo	9.45454545454546	11
Lamb	9.38650306748466	163
Rivka Whitten	8.91666666666667	12
Yerubilee	8.4	10
Deborah Kline-Iantorno	8	12
Bruce Cohen	7.84210526315789	19

 

Top 25 albums
Album	Community Rank
Ted Pearce - Zealous Over Zion	25.6923076923077
Ted Pearce - Hallelu Et Adonai	25.0909090909091
Sharon Wilbur - You're My Heart	24
Steve McConnell - Hamoedim	23.7
Steve McConnell - We Delight	23.2727272727273
Barry & Batya Segal - Sh'ma Yisrael	22.7058823529412
Zemer Levav - As Long As I Breathe	22.0909090909091
Barry & Batya Segal - Go Through The Gates	21.5833333333333
Marty Goetz - Hope Of Glory	21.0714285714286
Ted Pearce - Battle For Zion	20.1818181818182
Roman and Alaina - Sounds of Prayer	20.1666666666667
Paul Wilbur - The Watchman	20.1666666666667
Israel's Hope - Arise O Lord	19.2307692307692
Paul Wilbur - Lion of Judah	19.0833333333333
Avner & Rachel Boskey - Ancient Gates	18.5384615384615
Paul Wilbur - Desert Rain	18.3636363636364
Marty Goetz - Songs of Our Heritage	18.3636363636364
Paul Wilbur - Jerusalem Arise	18
Natasha Kraus-Reynolds - Children of the Light	17.9
Israel's Hope - Introducing Israel's Hope	17.25
Joel Chernoff - Come Dance With Me	16.9230769230769
Marty Goetz - I Call You Friend	16.9
Marty Goetz - Sanctuary	16.9
Karen Davis - For Zion's Sake	16.6875
Troy Mitchell - Yoke of the King	16.6363636363636

 

Top Song Per Artist
Artist	Song	CommunityRank
A B Singers	Hatikva (The Hope)	8
Alexander Roytman	Sim Shalom	5
Ami Shavit	She`Yibane Beit Ha`Mikdash (May The Temple Be Rebuilt)	7
Ann Hilsden	Hal'li Nafshi	8
Aviad Cohen	We Delight in Your Shabbat	35
Avner & Rachel Boskey	Give Us Peace	25
Barak	Eli, Eli (instrumental)	13
Barry & Batya Segal	We Delight in Your Shabbat	62
Barry and Batya Segal	UN Vote	7
Baruch Baoz	Birkat Hachenim (Aaronic Benediction)	3
Baruch HaShem Worship Team	Joel 3:16-18	19
Beit Immanuel Congregation	Come My Love	4
Ben & Lydia Zaslow	Shabbat Shalom	10
Ben & Vera Karlsson	Shalu Shalom Yerushalaim, Hine Mah Tov, Od Yishana	8
Benjamin Malgo	Hatikvah	25
Brian Doerksen	Psalm 13	12
Bruce & Lynne Patterson	Kadosh (Holy)	18
Bruce Cohen	I Will Call	14
CC Jones	My Savior, My God (Psalm 21)	7
Cari Eyres	My Soul's Sunrise	13
Carol Cantrell	Shabchi Yerushalayim (Praise, O Jerusalem)	1
Carolyn Hyde	Od Ve' Od	23
Celeste Mills and Chaim Warshawsky	Comfort My People	5
Celia Whitler	My Heart Is Quieted (Psalm 131)	7
Chaim Warchawsky	Shema (Hear O Israel)	9
Chuck King	Sh'ma Yisrael	13
Daniel Carmel	Jerusalem	10
Daniel Kopp & Sarah Liberman	Hal'lu Et Adonai (Praise The Lord)	6
David Edwards	Strength of the River (Psalm 46)	13
David Loden	Rachem Adonai (Have Mercy, O Lord)	1
Deanne Glenn	Homeward Bound	11
Deborah Kline-Iantorno	Forever Praise Your Name	13
Double Portion Worship Team	Mi Kamoka	15
Dov Zeira	Hevenu Shalom Aleichem	7
Effi Netzer Band	Hava Netze BeMachol (Let Us Dance)	2
Eitan Masuri	Shabechi Yerushalayim (Praise The Lord- O Jerusalem)	5
Elana Watson	Ani Mamina	24
Elisheva Shomron	Ahava Ko Adira (Love So Great)	6
Ephraim Ben Yoseph	Voice of the Innocent	10
Esther 'Eti' Horesh	Hatikvah (The Hope, Israel's National Anthem)	7
Evan Levine	May The God of Israel Reign	22
Grupo Jerusalem	Sim Shalom	14
Hagevatron	Tzion Tamati (Zion My Innocent)	5
Heartsville	Kadosh	16
Hector David	Shema	7
Helen Shapiro	Ha Shiveinu, Seh Ha Elohim	7
Inna Pikman	Baruch Adonai	18
Israel's Hope	Shalom Jerusalem	34
Jarmula Band	Kol Naolam	4
Jeanne Gere	I Am Not Afraid (Psalm 23)	12
Jeanne Gere, Kevin Stokes, Katie Giguere	Sing To The Lord, You Saints of His (Psalm 30)	5
Jerry Marcellino	Arise O Lord	18
Jimmie Black	Holy Unto The Lord	21
Joel Chernoff	Baruch Adonai	59
Jonathan & Cindy Bernd	Va'ani Ashir	10
Jonathan Kegans	Face to Face	10
Jonathan Lane	Come My Beloved	15
Jonathan Settel	Shabbat Medley	23
Jonathan and Cindy Bernd	Hoi Kol Tsameh	6
Jordan Marcellino	Psalm 91	9
Joy Griffiths	Holy is the Lord	13
Jubilare Singers	I Will Serve No Foreign God (Psalm 81-9)	9
Judah & Jennifer Morrison	Ezo Min Ahavah Zot	10
Karen Davis	Ata Tzuri	21
Karen-Or Karni Hirsch	Ki Shem Adonai Ekra (I Will Call On Adonai)	4
Kathy Shooster	Seek The Lord	7
Katie Giguere	Just By Your Mercy (Psalm 5)	5
Katy Giguere	He Who Dwells In The Shelter of the Lord (Psalm 91)	3
Kehilat Ha Ma'ayan Congregation	Ata Adonai (Reprise)	5
Kelly Willard	The Wings of the Morning (Psalm 139-7-14)	7
Ken Lane	Avvon D'bish'Maiya	6
Keren & David Seguin	Kadosh Atah (You are Holy)	24
Kevin Knott	Mayim Mi Shamayim	11
Kibbutz Ha`Ma`apil Trio	Mizmor Le`David (A Psalm Of David)	2
Kirk Dearman	Hear, O Shepherd of Israel (Psalm 80)	11
Kol Simcha	They Who Trust In The Lord	10
LaDonna Taylor	Hava Nagila	20
Lamb	Sh'ma Yisrael	22
Lee Rothman	Aaronic Blessing	9
Lenny & Varda Harris	The Word of Adonai	19
Lenny and Varda Harris	Mashiach Ben-David	17
Lev Shelo	Osse Shalom Bimromav	22
Liberated Wailing Wall	Avinu Malkenu	15
Luanne Sayag	Seh HaElohim (Lamb of God)	9
Lynne McDowell	One Thing I Ask	9
Maranatha Singers	Shaalu Shalom Yerushalayim	18
Marc Chopinsky	Blessed Is The Man	4
Margaret Becker	Create In Me (Psalm 51)	14
Martin Sarvis	Lament	7
Marty Goetz	The God of Peace	31
Mason Clover	Your Prayer	16
Maurice Sklar	Schindler's List, Via Delorosa Medley	20
Maurice Sklar & Hugh Sung	Hebrew Dance and Chant	6
Meha Shamayim	Shebbat Shleva (Sabbath of Peace)	29
Micha'el Eliyahu BenDavid	Shiru L'Adonai (Sing to the Lord)	28
Mijael Hayom	Tob Lehodot	10
Naftsali Imber	Hatikva	12
Natasha Kraus-Reynolds	Hear the Voice	26
New Wine	Kuma Adonai	11
Nomi Pritz & Roy Kendall	Be'Libi Tzafanti	9
Oxana Eliahu	In the Depth of My Heart	7
Paul Wilbur	Dance With Me	32
Philip Stanley Klein	Yisrael My Glory	5
Rachael Washington	Wherever You Go (The Vow)	23
Rachel Boskey	Save Your People	7
Rebecca Weiler	Halo Yadata (Have You Not Known)	14
Regina Zaki	Nigun Atik (Ancient Melody)	4
Renewal	Kyrie	8
Ric Blair	Psalm 95	5
Rivka Whitten	Peace Be With You	14
Robin Mark	Ancient Words	16
Roeh Israel Worship Team	Catch Me In Your Gaze	17
Roman and Alaina	Enter Into Shabbat	52
Roy Kendall	As the Deer Pants	10
Sara Herndon and Jonathan Sacks	Brethren, My Heart's Desire	4
Sasha Roytman	Yeshua Is My Lord	8
Savae	Sounding of the Shofar and Sh'ma Israel (Hear, O Israel)	10
Sha'rei HaShamayim	I Believe	7
Sharon Wilbur	They Will Bow	32
Sheli Myers	Adonai Ahuvi	10
Shmulik Nissim	The Love You Never Had	7
Sons of Korah	Hand To The Plough	18
Sons of Korah	Lift Up Your Heads (Psalm 24)	20
Steve Bell	Remember Me (Psalm 25)	19
Steve McConnell	Yom Shekulo Shabbat	36
Ted Pearce	Walk in the Light	40
Tents of Mercy	Ahavata Oti Rishon	9
The Effi Netzer Singers	Havenu Shalom Aleichem (We Bring You Peace)	4
The Star of David Singers	Weep, Wail	7
Tina Bolinger	Psalm 96	9
Troy Mitchell	Peace	29
Unknown Artist	Ose Shalom	12
Various Artists	Hinei Ma Tov (Behold How Good)	8
Vesna Beuhler	Ana Adonai (O Lord, Please Save Us!)	15
Voices Of Israel	Yerushalayim Shel Zahav (Jerusalem of Gold)	5
Yerubilee	Wait on the Lord	24
Yosef Karduner	Hiney Lo Yanum	7
Zamru Lo Singers	Hallelu Hu (Praise Him)	2
Zemer Levav	Your Name	34

Note that these statistics reflect a disadvantage for songs that haven't been on Chavah for very long. Fewer folks have heard the newer songs, artists, and albums, therefore fewer folks have rated them, with the end result of a lower average community rating. This disadvantage will smooth out over time as the 100 people that upvoted a song will eventually hear the lesser-heard song, and more votes will be cast for those.

What can we glean from these results? Here’s a few quick observations:

• The Messianic community really likes Ted Pearce and Steve McConnell. The average community rank for their songs puts them as the top 2 artists, and each have 2 albums in the top 5 albums. 
  
  
• Sharon Wilbur sneaks her 5-song LP, You’re My Heart, into the #3 album, however, with just 5 songs on that LP, she’s at an unfair advantage. Even so, her full 14-song album, Mercy Calling, is ranked well by the community at a 16.4 average, coming in at 26th on the albums chart, just beneath Troy Mitchell’s Yoke of the King.
  
  
• I’m a bit saddened to see Messianic music pioneer group LAMB only made it to spot #21 in the artist ranking – they are #1 in my book. Much of their music isn’t modern-sounding, so it has less appeal to many Messianics. At 163 total songs, they far surpass any other artist in terms of quantity, and for much of their music, quality as well.
  
  
• A statistical oddity is Troy Mitchell: his first album, a chanting-only, traditional prayers album, Seudat Mashiach, is rated poorly by the community; an average of –2 for the whole album; ouch. But his second album, released last year, rates marvelously, even making the top 25 album list. It may be explained by Chavah listeners preferring music to chanting.
  
  
• Modern Messianic group Roman and Alaina, and Roman’s former group, Meha Shamayim, are doing quite well. I reviewed their Sounds of Prayer album a few years ago here on the Kineti blog, where I related this album would be one of the best around. Turns out my prediction was accurate: Sounds of Prayer is currently in #11 on the top Messianic albums of all time, as rated by the Messianic community.
  
  
• Paul Wilbur’s old Messianic group from the 1980s, Israel’s Hope, fares better than Paul’s modern albums. Ditto for Israel’s Hope co-founder Marc Chopinsky. This aligns with my own thoughts that Paul and Marc worked much better together as Israel’s Hope, than they have as independent artists. I suggest Paul and Marc and Rene hook up for an Israel’s Hope reunion album and put together some smash hit tunes for the Lord. (I can dream, can’t I? )
  
  
• Marty Goetz is some fine wine and cheese - he gets better with age. He’s got several albums in the top 25 albums list, but his latest album, Hope of Glory, is highest ranked at #9. His highest ranked song, God of Peace, is also from his latest album. Go Marty!

There you have it, folks. A new and improved Chavah with more awesomesauce. If you haven't tried Chavah yet, or were discouraged by too much junk when you did, I encourage you to give Chavah a spin. With her new musically-selective brain in place, she's sure to please.