Does Louder Music Sell Better?

US The Answer May Surprise You      16/02/11

Buying Choices
Affilliate Links help support the site

Earl Vickers, Principal Audio Algorithm Engineer at STMicroelectronics, put together this excellent presentation on the Loudness War for the 129th AES Convention in San Francisco.

The presentation discusses the audible effects of hypercompression and looks at the loudness war in terms of game theory. After presenting evidence questioning the idea that louder recordings sell better, Vickers suggests some possible ways to de-escalate the loudness war.

Along the way, Vickers makes some interesting points:

  • Loudness is not correlated with sales figures;
  • Loudness has almost no affect on listener’s preferences when comparing different songs;
  • Listeners tend to dislike the side-effects of hyper-compression, and prefer more dynamic music; and
  • Content trumps loudness, especially on the radio

The most mind-boggling fact that Vickers brings up, though, is that today's heavily compressed recordings actually have lower dynamic range than recordings made on Edison Cylinders a century ago. 

Vickers has additional information and audio demos at his site. 

Links:

James Lewin

Twitter @podcasting_news



More News: Like This
Even more news...


 


More Videos

Sonic LAB: Live Mega Synthesis Groove Box Review Sonic LAB: Live Mega Synthesis Groove Box Review 

Sega sound for now


NAMM 2024: Realitone - Sunset Choir NAMM 2024: Realitone - Sunset Choir 

Natural choir sounds for Kontakt Player


Presentation: Stylophone CPM DS-2 Drone Synth Presentation: Stylophone CPM DS-2 Drone Synth 

We take a look


NAMM24: Korg Re-release the Legendary PS-3300 FS NAMM24: Korg Re-release the Legendary PS-3300 FS 

Blimey. How Much?


Hey there, we use Cookies to customize your experience on Sonicstate.com