Layer Atlas | What Makes a Good Layer?

Rank = mean of the model’s per-task ranks (1 = best; ^p ranked on fewer tasks) Params = evaluated encoder (audio tower for two-tower; decoder for AR) ⁺ beyond the paper’s 12 models † metric caveat (hover) — not evaluated (coverage) dot = best layer

Model	Paradigm	Params	Rank	Tonal ▸			Rhythm		Timbre	Semantic ▸								Similarity ▸
Model	Paradigm	Params	Rank	Chords	Key	Pitch	Chords root	Chords thirds	Chords triads	Beat	Downbeat	Instrument	Emotion	Genre	Structure	MTG-Genre	MTG-Instr	MTG-Mood	MTG-Top50	MTT	Arousal	Valence	MTG-Genre AUROC	MTG-Instr AUROC	MTG-Mood AUROC	MTG-Top50 AUROC	MTT AUROC	DimSim	DimSim cos	DimSim L2
MuQ (iter)	Masked	310M	4.4	84.8L3	64.5L2	92.5L2	78.3L3	74.4L3	58.8L3	75.8^†L6	46.5^†L12	79.1L5	67.1L10	85.2L3	59.9L11	17.5L9	19.7L5	13.5L10	28.3L9	39.1L2	76.4L4	59.0L7	84.5L9	76.3L10	75.7L10	81.3L10	91.1L2	79.5L0	78.8L1	81.7L0
MusicFM (MSD)	Masked	330M	5.2	84.3L3	64.6L4	90.5L1	75.6L5	71.5L5	55.0L3	75.7^†L9	45.9^†L10	75.5L3	68.4L5	84.8L9	59.4L8	17.3L9	18.8L6	13.6L7	27.5L7	39.2L7	76.0L5	60.7L5	84.7L8	75.4L10	76.2L7	81.2L6	91.0L4	80.5L2	83.7L2	80.8L2
YuE-s1-0.5B	Autoregressive	0.5B	5.3^p	—	66.6L24	—	—	—	—	88.2^†L11	48.8^†L10	—	66.7L21	81.4L11	60.5L9	16.6L11	18.1L14	13.1L10	26.8L11	39.2L8	76.9L6	58.0L17	84.0L10	74.3L13	75.6L6	80.3L6	91.0L6	82.4L6	86.3L13	86.3L13
MusicGen-S	Autoregressive	300M	6.4^p	—	68.6L19	—	—	—	—	85.7^†L11	47.7^†L14	—	64.5L14	74.8L14	58.2L9	16.1L9	19.1L9	14.2L9	27.0L10	38.9L9	76.4L15	52.8L14	84.2L9	75.3L9	76.1L15	81.4L10	90.6L16	81.3L17	79.9L15	80.3L9
OMAR-RQ (multifeature)	Masked	580M	6.7	82.5L16	67.0L5	94.2L2	75.4L5	70.8L5	53.0L2	74.8^†L19	46.4^†L14	73.9L9	66.8L9	78.6L16	59.4L16	16.7L14	18.1L9	13.0L16	27.0L17	38.4L9	76.8L15	58.1L17	84.3L11	74.5L10	75.1L9	80.9L10	90.8L8	81.2L14	86.7L14	83.6L13
MERT-v1-95M	Masked	95M	7.0	82.6L8	63.4L9	92.4L1	62.2L11	58.9L11	43.6L10	87.7^†L7	47.5^†L7	70.3L4	66.3L8	78.6L7	58.3L4	16.5L6	18.5L6	12.6L7	27.4L6	38.4L5	76.3L8	56.3L8	84.5L6	74.5L6	74.9L7	81.1L6	90.8L5	79.5L2	81.7L6	78.8L6
MERT-v1-330M	Masked	330M	7.0	79.2L6	65.2L3	92.2L4	64.3L2	60.5L2	43.5L2	88.0^†L9	47.8^†L7	71.4L7	66.4L10	78.3L10	57.8L6	16.2L7	18.6L10	12.6L8	27.2L9	37.8L5	75.8L10	57.1L10	84.2L5	75.0L7	74.3L8	81.1L6	90.6L7	81.0L7	82.7L4	83.4L6
OMAR-RQ (base)⁺	Masked	90M^*	7.9	80.5L5	62.2L2	90.9L1	64.0L6	60.3L6	45.0L5	73.7^†L18	43.3^†L12	74.8L14	66.0L21	81.0L7	56.7L8	17.0L9	18.2L9	12.9L9	27.1L18	39.7L6	75.3L5	57.8L21	84.3L9	73.9L8	75.0L18	81.0L18	91.3L4	80.4L3	84.8L2	83.6L19
LAION-CLAP	Contrastive	73M	8.8^p	—	30.9L6	82.0L8	—	—	—	—	—	77.5L15	69.0L18	82.1L21	56.3L21	15.2L20	18.5L17	12.4L19	25.7L16	39.5L19	77.1L18	60.9L18	82.7L16	75.0L19	73.3L20	79.9L16	91.1L19	79.2L11	82.5L10	82.4L11
YuE-s1-7B	Autoregressive	7B	10.2^p	—	63.8L32	—	—	—	—	85.8^†L9	47.4^†L9	—	64.1L16	74.8L12	58.2L15	14.4L9	16.6L13	11.8L6	24.6L32	36.5L32	75.0L15	53.6L18	81.5L32	71.4L32	72.6L4	78.8L32	89.8L32	80.4L2	84.4L2	84.9L2
MusicGen-L	Autoregressive	3.3B	10.8^p	—	67.2L39	90.9L43	—	—	—	85.3^†L33	46.5^†L33	69.8L32	56.1L38	63.8L35	56.1L32	14.1L34	16.3L39	11.9L34	24.1L34	36.3L32	66.1L31	47.1L38	81.9L34	71.1L39	72.9L34	78.7L33	89.4L32	68.4L1	71.1L1	70.7L1
MusicGen-M	Autoregressive	1.5B	12.0^p	—	65.5L43	89.8L0	—	—	—	85.0^†L32	45.7^†L27	69.4L17	53.8L32	60.7L29	55.4L38	13.5L32	15.8L40	11.2L32	23.7L33	36.3L28	63.8L30	45.1L39	81.3L32	70.2L30	72.0L36	78.6L32	89.5L28	69.3L1	70.2L1	70.4L1
Music-Flamingo⁺	Audio-Language	637M^*	4.4^p	—	62.2L29	—	—	—	—	85.3^†L13	45.5^†L23	—	68.3L29	84.5L29	—	18.4L28	19.7L27	14.9L25	28.7L27	41.4L31	77.5L24	59.7L29	85.8L28	76.5L28	76.4L22	81.9L23	91.9L27	83.3L4	86.0L4	85.5L4
Qwen2-Audio-Instruct⁺	Audio-Language	637M^*	5.0^p	—	57.2L1	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	69.1L24	90.3L30	—	—	—	—	—	—	78.9L24	61.4L19	—	—	—	—	—	82.4L5	86.0L12	85.7L8
MAEST⁺	Supervised	87M^*	5.8^p	—	26.8L2	82.2L2	—	—	—	—	—	78.5L5	65.9L8	87.2L9	—	16.6L6	19.1L5	13.2L5	27.5L5	39.8L5	74.1L4	58.3L6	84.3L4	74.9L4	74.8L4	81.3L4	91.3L5	84.8L6	86.9L4	86.6L3
MT2⁺	Contrastive	5.3M^*	8.0^p	84.4L5	70.0L2	—	72.7L6	69.4L6	54.9L5	—	—	—	—	70.3L12	—	—	—	—	—	34.0L9	—	—	—	—	—	—	88.6L11	—	—	—
Myna-Base	Contrastive	22M	14.9^p	—	47.8L6	—	—	—	—	—	—	64.5L12	43.2L9	52.1L4	49.6L12	10.6L12	—	8.9L12	—	29.7L12	51.6L12	35.5L9	77.9L12	—	69.7L12	—	85.8L12	65.5L12	66.7L12	67.3L12