That was fascinating! Definitely a 5-star post! Many thanks, LZ.
I think the Britney Spears case is an example of how perfect tempo isn't always desirable. In fact, I wonder if when we (musicians) use the term "overproduced", we are doing so because to our ears "perfect" tempo doesn't sound real. I wonder if subconsciously, "perfect" tempo is slightly grating to the human ear. From the results shown, it obviously isn't a naturally occurring phenomenon. John Bonham and Ringo weren't known for having tempo issues that I can recall.
I never cared much for Michael Jackson's stuff. I would love to run "Beat It" through the
Python program to see how it fares. I bet it's "perfect". I have never programmed in Python. I bet you could do the same thing in VBA. I will look into it. I'm not that great with VBA, but I work with a guy who is really good with it. I would love to do some investigation of my own.
Again, great, great post!!!!