A method is provided for converting one or more electronic music files
into an electronic musical representation. A song framework is provided
that includes a plurality of rules and associated processing steps for
converting an electronic music file into a song framework output. The
song framework output defines one or more framework elements; one or more
performance elements; and a performance element collective. The rules and
processing steps are applied to each instrument track included in one or
more electronic music files, thereby: detecting the one or more
performance elements; classifying the performance elements; and mapping
the performance elements to the corresponding framework elements. A
related method is also provide for preparing the electronic music files
before applying the rules and associated processing steps of the song
framework. The output of the method of the present invention is a song
framework output file. A computer system and computer program is also
provided for processing electronic music files in accordance with the
method of the invention. One aspect of the computer system is an
electronic music registry which includes a database where a plurality of
song frame output files are stored. The computer program provides a
comparison facility that is operable to compare the electronic musical
representations of at least two different electronic music files and
establish whether one electronic music file includes original elements of
another electronic music file. The computer program also provides a
reporting facility that is operable to generate originality reports in
regard to one or more electronic music files selected by a user.