America's Trend-Setter in Music: Atlanta

Researchers have combed online data to determine which cities set the trend for music listeners—and the results are surprising. In North America, Atlanta residents are ahead of the curve with their playlists for new music overall and hip-hop in particular, while Montreal is tops for indie tunes, Time reports. In Europe, Oslo is the overall leader, while Paris leads the indie pack. The findings are part of the emerging field of "network science," which turns to social networks to learn about behavior.

Irish researchers analyzed data from the website last.fm, which reveals different regions' most-listened-to bands. The scientists reviewed lists for 200 cities dating back to 2003. You might think that the most-populated cities would be the ones setting the trend, notes a physics blog at the Technology Review. But there's "only weak support for this hypothesis," the researchers say—unfortunately for New York and Los Angeles. (More Atlanta stories.)