Loudness War in Music Streaming - Petition

[mdmayfield]

Hi everyone,

 

This year I had the honor and privilege of helping create this petition, which was started by some top-notch professional engineers. I wanted to share it with you all in Line 6 land:

https://www.change.org/p/music-streaming-services-bring-peace-to-the-loudness-war

 

If you've heard of the "Loudness War" (which is not really about loudness at all - it's about sound quality), please consider signing it and sharing it with others. The petition has been live for less than 24 hours, and we've already got more than 1,000 signatures!

 

Basically, if music streaming services start normalizing loudness (not peak normalization - loudness normalization), then artists will no longer feel pressured to use more dynamic compression than their artistic vision requires. They'll be able to choose however much (or little) dynamic range they want, without worrying about being too quiet or too loud. Everyone wins!

 

Thank you,

 

Matt

[Newman50]

No surprise that no one replied in a guitar player product forum ... we hate turning down  :)     but I agree with you  

[psarkissian]

Music is scanned and leveled before it goes out at the different streaming services, so that

all the music that goes out is at the same standard level. Something I heard mastering engineer

Bob Ludwig talk about recently.

 

So trying to crank one's mix won't do any good. A number of mix and mastering engineers

were at an AES gathering, and the subject came up. So if someone is looking to circumvent

that, lots of luck.

 

AES TD1004.1.15-10,... very good. I'm acquainted with Mr Rumsey from the British arm of

the AES, and Bob Schulein and Bob Katz are renowned in the audio world, and are on the

same AES Technical Committee that I'm on.

 

LU or Loudness Units have been adopted by the EU and UK for about four years now, and

has done very well as it has been starting to be adopted here for about two years now. Not

quite locked in yet, but it's getting there.

[cruisinon2]

I love first world problems...

 

I'm sure this will get remedied right after TV commercials stop knocking me over the back of the couch because they're 15 dB louder than the show I was just watching. Of course the advertising world and the networks deny that this is the case anyway...;)

[psarkissian]

What they do is a trick of the EQ that still maintains the overall dB levels within standards.

It's a deception on the part of the advertisers.

 

They boost the EQ where the hearing is more sensitive along the Fletcher-Munson Curve,

then dial it back at other frequencies, and still keep the overall dB level within the required

limits. And so there is an overall impression of being louder, when it really isn't, when you look

at dB signal levels or dB-SPL.

 

At AES, when the "Loudness Wars" are talked about, this is something that comes up in

discussions. It really annoys us.

[Brazzy]

I love first world problems...

 

I'm sure this will get remedied right after TV commercials stop knocking me over the back of the couch because they're 15 dB louder than the show I was just watching. Of course the advertising world and the networks deny that this is the case anyway...;)

I was thinking the same thing. The commercials always seem way too loud. So annoying it turns me off making me go out of my way to avoid whatever they're selling, lol.

[Palico]

What they do is a trick of the EQ that still maintains the overall dB levels within standards.

It's a deception on the part of the advertisers.

 

They boost the EQ where the hearing is more sensitive along the Fletcher-Munson Curve,

then dial it back at other frequencies, and still keep the overall dB level within the required

limits. And so there is an overall impression of being louder, when it really isn't, when you look

at dB signal levels or dB-SPL.

 

At AES, when the "Loudness Wars" are talked about, this is something that comes up in

discussions. It really annoys us.

 

Always wondered why we didn't just build a small compressor into T.V. to bring up the shows level and tame the ads. That explains it. Learned something new today.

[psarkissian]

Yeah, it's TV's dirty little secret. Well known in the AES and the EBU.

 

The EBU and ITU in Europe are on to that, and don't put up with it on TV.

And heaven forbid you want to show a film at the cinema there, without passing

their Loudness Unit (LU) standard (adopted some six years ago, I think).

[psarkissian]

"Always wondered why we didn't just build a small compressor into T.V. to bring up the shows level and tame the ads"---

 

Might want to go with a Limiter instead, as it limits the amplitude ceiling. A compressor has an affect on the frequencies.

You tend to loose the highs. Though maybe a Multi-Band compressor would be good, as you would have control over both

frequency and amplitude. Run the audio out from your TV, insert a compressor or limiter, run the output of that to your A/V

stereo receiver.

[pianoguyy]

The problem with allowing a Streaming Service to dictate "artistic expression" comes down to money. 

 

Is anyone making money from streaming? I mean, other than the streaming service, of course. If you aren't Taylor Swift, you aren't making money from streaming and she is only making a pittance in comparison to other sources. 

I am not in a non-profit business (even non-profits turn profits, lol). Unless you are TS, you are playing for free online. Let's let paying customers dictate

[psarkissian]

The paying customer has the post-fader volume control on their computer.

Once it's in their audio buffer, they can crank it as high as they want. Prior to that

there are fairness to the content provider/artists and bandwidth issues of the stream

to consider.

 

Even if you're not Taylor Swift, you should get a greater piece of your action.