The Truth Behind The Loudness Wars

Waves has released a new documentary that they say uncovers the truth behind the loudness wars. This is what they have to say about 'How Music Got Loud'.

"I was accused--you ruined music!" This striking remark was said to an engineer who helped shape how recordings were made over the last 30 years.

How Music Got Loud: The Untold Story of the Loudness Wars is a new documentary uncovering the controversial battle that transformed modern music: the race to make every track louder than the last.

For three decades, the pursuit of loudness has redefined audience expectations. This short film exposes why Led Zeppelin now sounds relatively quiet compared to today's chart-toppers like Sabrina Carpenter. It reveals how, starting in the early 1990s, digital tools gave producers unprecedented power and temptation to push volume to its limits. What began as innovation soon became an obsession, transforming the way records sound and how we listen.

But the story didn't end there. Over time, the pendulum swung back, and the pursuit of musicality returned to the fore. The film examines the industry's attempts at balancing its obsession with loudness while encouraging dynamic range; the ultimate goal of creating records that audiences can connect with. 

Produced by Waves Audio, whose pioneering plugins helped define digital mastering, this film tells the story through the voices of those who were there – the engineers behind some of the most influential records ever made.

• Howie Weinberg – The man behind the mastering of legendary albums Nevermind and Blood Sugar Sex Magik. If you've ever blasted The Killers, Pearl Jam or Muse, you've felt Howie's work.
• Dale Becker – The mastering engineer trusted by Billie Eilish and SZA to finalize their most recent releases, Hit Me Hard and Soft, and SOS, respectively.
• Gavin Lurssen & Reuben Cohen – The figures of the mastering house responsible for releases by Metallica, Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters and Robert Plant, to name a few.
• Jesse Ray Ernster – The acclaimed mixer for Doja Cat, Burna Boy and a slew of others.

 

Also featured: mastering legend Bob Katz, author of what is considered the definitive work on the subject, Mastering Audio: The Art and the Science, and Meir Shashoua, Co-founder and CTO of Waves, the innovator whose tools have transformed the way music is produced and experienced.

How Music Got Loud offers a rare, inside look at how artistry, technology and competition collided to create the defining sound of the last thirty years, and what that means for the future of music.

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