Remote Audio Annotator (Music) - $8/hr

About the role

A part-time, remote contractor assignment as an audio annotator for music, paid $8 per hour. The work lasts 6 weeks at 20 to 40 hours per week. You will listen to music clips and write clear, concise, evidence-based descriptions of musical elements.

Key responsibilities

• Identify musical forms and section functions, including intros, verses, choruses, bridges and outros.
• Identify instruments, playing techniques and arrangement roles such as bass lines, grooves, pads, leads, counter-melodies and fills.
• Analyze harmony, including chord progressions, chord names, pedal points, cadences, key changes and modulations.
• Analyze rhythm and groove, including meter, drum patterns, syncopation, tempo changes and half-time or double-time relationships.
• Describe melodies, hooks, repetition, call-and-response patterns, vocal styles and melodic variations.
• Identify dynamics, textures, builds, drops, crescendos, layering and changes in musical density.
• Recognize production techniques such as reverb, delay, distortion, filtering, sidechain effects, stereo imaging and lo-fi or polished treatments.
• Describe musical transitions, including fills, risers, stops, cuts, fades, starts and endings.
• Review machine-generated descriptions and identify missing, invented, mistimed or inaccurate musical content.
• Maintain consistent judgment and annotation quality across clips and batches.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Music, preferably specializing in composition or music theory, OR at least 1 year of hands-on music production experience in mixing and/or composing.
• Strong theoretical understanding of music, including harmony, melody, rhythm, instrumentation and musical arrangements.
• Ability to listen critically and identify quiet, brief, overlapping and changing musical details.
• Ability to distinguish individual instruments and describe their roles in complex arrangements.
• Ability to describe music clearly using everyday and technical musical terminology.
• Strong attention to detail and the ability to stay focused and consistent across long batches.