Jeff Cruz
Assistant PD WPOZ Orlando

We Are Losing The Loudness Wars

In the past, there have been a few, short lived discussions about how OVER produced or how Compressed the songs coming out now are.  At radio it creates problems for us on the air.  There are lots of folks on both sides of the Record/Radio industry that hear the problem, but few that are actually talking about it, much less acting to correct. it.

Recently, a friend of mine (not even in radio) sent me a link to NPR's "All Things Considered" which I thought a bit unusual.  I never really listen to NPR, but saw the title LOUDNESS WAR and was intrigued.  They did a segment about how BAD the Recording, Mixing and Mastering has gotten in the recording industry as a whole.  It explains in pretty good details exactly what has changed and how terrible it has made things sound, not just on CD's, but on the radio!  (and how mp3's are even worse).  Louder is definitely NOT better!  And it is everywhere, but can be corrected once we all understand what the problem is.  :)

I have heard people in my station, who know much more about this than I do, explain it for years.... but THIS short radio segment made it so simple, it was plain as the nose on my face.   Seriously.  It really is a must for ALL in the industry to not only hear, but to begin to work together to change it - all of us, radio, records, artists, producers, mixing engineers, mastering techs, everyone!)

This is a link to the show which aired a week or so ago. http://stitcher.com/s/?AAPAAC_-5   - Fast forward (slide) to about 7:26 into it to hear the segment.

**Also, referenced in the segment is a Youtube video called the Loudness War where you can hear AND SEE what they are talking about. It is very short, but amazingly eye opening.  Here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Gmex_4hreQ

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