Loudness war

The loudness war is a negative term that describes the apparent competition to release albums that are increasingly loud. Albums that are "victims of the loudness war" have less good sound quality because the dynamic range has been compressed to make the music louder. Examples of albums that are victims of the loudness war include Death Magnetic by Metallica.^[1] Record producer Charles Dye started an organization called Turn Me Up! that campaigns to give musicians the choice to make albums with bigger dynamic ranges. In March 2010, mastering engineer Ian Shepherd organised the first Dynamic Range Day.

Loudness War Media

Different releases of ABBA's 1980 song "Super Trouper" show different levels of loudness compared to the original 1980 release.
Three different releases of ZZ Top's song "Sharp Dressed Man" show increasing loudness over time: 1983–2000–2008.
Waveform of song "My Apocalypse" by Metallica, in a comparison: top is the regular CD version, bottom is the downloadable version for Guitar Hero III. Done with Audacity.

References

↑ Michaels, Sean (17 September 2008). "Metallica album sounds better on Guitar Hero videogame" – via www.theguardian.com.

[1] Michaels, Sean (17 September 2008). "Metallica album sounds better on Guitar Hero videogame" – via www.theguardian.com.

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