The Ecosystem of Open-Source Music Production Software - A Mining Study on the Development Practices of VST Plugins on GitHub

Bogdan Andrei; Mauricio Verano Merino; Ivano Malavolta

doi:10.1109/MSR66628.2025.00085

The Ecosystem of Open-Source Music Production Software - A Mining Study on the Development Practices of VST Plugins on GitHub

Bogdan Andrei^*
, Mauricio Verano Merino
, Ivano Malavolta

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

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Abstract

In this study we shed light on a unique and interdisciplinary domain, where music, technology, and human creativity intersect: music production software. Today software technologies are the predominant means of music production, with a vibrant ecosystem for commercial and open-source products. In this work we target VST plugins, the de-facto standard for developing and prototyping music production software. We analyze 15,847 data points over 299 GitHub repositories containing VST plugins. Our results include a systematic quantification of the (i) characteristics of open-source VST projects in terms of, e.g., duration, size, contributors, stars/watchers, licensing, (ii) most used technologies for developing VST plugins, and (iii) code quality and testing practices in VST projects. Our findings provide a comprehensive understanding of the current state of the practice in VST plugins development, highlighting successful projects, opportunities for improvement, and future research directions for software engineering researchers.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	2025 IEEE/ACM 22nd International Conference on Mining Software Repositories (MSR)
Subtitle of host publication	[Proceedings]
Publisher	Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages	513-525
Number of pages	13
ISBN (Electronic)	9798331501839
ISBN (Print)	9798331501846
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/MSR66628.2025.00085
Publication status	Published - 2025
Event	22nd IEEE/ACM International Conference on Mining Software Repositories, MSR 2025 - Ottawa, Canada Duration: 27 Apr 2025 → 29 Apr 2025

Conference

Conference	22nd IEEE/ACM International Conference on Mining Software Repositories, MSR 2025
Country/Territory	Canada
City	Ottawa
Period	27/04/25 → 29/04/25

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Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 IEEE.

Keywords

empirical software engineering
mining software repositories
music production software
vst

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10.1109/MSR66628.2025.00085

The_Ecosystem_of_Open-Source_Music_Production_Software__A_Mining_Study_on_the_Development_Practices_of_VST_Plugins_on_GitHubFinal published version, 1.15 MBLicence: Article 25fa Dutch Copyright Act

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Andrei, B., Merino, M. V., & Malavolta, I. (2025). The Ecosystem of Open-Source Music Production Software - A Mining Study on the Development Practices of VST Plugins on GitHub. In 2025 IEEE/ACM 22nd International Conference on Mining Software Repositories (MSR): [Proceedings] (pp. 513-525). Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.. https://doi.org/10.1109/MSR66628.2025.00085

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abstract = "In this study we shed light on a unique and interdisciplinary domain, where music, technology, and human creativity intersect: music production software. Today software technologies are the predominant means of music production, with a vibrant ecosystem for commercial and open-source products. In this work we target VST plugins, the de-facto standard for developing and prototyping music production software. We analyze 15,847 data points over 299 GitHub repositories containing VST plugins. Our results include a systematic quantification of the (i) characteristics of open-source VST projects in terms of, e.g., duration, size, contributors, stars/watchers, licensing, (ii) most used technologies for developing VST plugins, and (iii) code quality and testing practices in VST projects. Our findings provide a comprehensive understanding of the current state of the practice in VST plugins development, highlighting successful projects, opportunities for improvement, and future research directions for software engineering researchers.",

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doi = "10.1109/MSR66628.2025.00085",

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Andrei, B, Merino, MV & Malavolta, I 2025, The Ecosystem of Open-Source Music Production Software - A Mining Study on the Development Practices of VST Plugins on GitHub. in 2025 IEEE/ACM 22nd International Conference on Mining Software Repositories (MSR): [Proceedings]. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., pp. 513-525, 22nd IEEE/ACM International Conference on Mining Software Repositories, MSR 2025, Ottawa, Canada, 27/04/25. https://doi.org/10.1109/MSR66628.2025.00085

The Ecosystem of Open-Source Music Production Software - A Mining Study on the Development Practices of VST Plugins on GitHub. / Andrei, Bogdan; Merino, Mauricio Verano ; Malavolta, Ivano.
2025 IEEE/ACM 22nd International Conference on Mining Software Repositories (MSR): [Proceedings]. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2025. p. 513-525.

Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceeding › Conference contribution › Academic › peer-review

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Y1 - 2025

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AB - In this study we shed light on a unique and interdisciplinary domain, where music, technology, and human creativity intersect: music production software. Today software technologies are the predominant means of music production, with a vibrant ecosystem for commercial and open-source products. In this work we target VST plugins, the de-facto standard for developing and prototyping music production software. We analyze 15,847 data points over 299 GitHub repositories containing VST plugins. Our results include a systematic quantification of the (i) characteristics of open-source VST projects in terms of, e.g., duration, size, contributors, stars/watchers, licensing, (ii) most used technologies for developing VST plugins, and (iii) code quality and testing practices in VST projects. Our findings provide a comprehensive understanding of the current state of the practice in VST plugins development, highlighting successful projects, opportunities for improvement, and future research directions for software engineering researchers.

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Andrei B, Merino MV , Malavolta I. The Ecosystem of Open-Source Music Production Software - A Mining Study on the Development Practices of VST Plugins on GitHub. In 2025 IEEE/ACM 22nd International Conference on Mining Software Repositories (MSR): [Proceedings]. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. 2025. p. 513-525 Epub 2025 Jun 13. doi: 10.1109/MSR66628.2025.00085

The Ecosystem of Open-Source Music Production Software - A Mining Study on the Development Practices of VST Plugins on GitHub

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