May 22, 2012
Loudness has no impact on sales – Update
Three weeks ago, Jack White’s debut album “Blunderbuss” went in at #1 in the Billboard Album Charts:
Jack White Scores First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart
“Blunderbuss” measures DR11 using the offline TT Dynamic Range Meter.
By today’s standards, that’s thunderously dynamic.
And it still got to Number One. Three weeks later, it’s still at number 8.
Compare the sound of “Weep Themselves To Sleep” (DR10) with “Bone Broke” (DR6) from “Icky Thump”, his 2007 White Stripes release. Which sounds better ?
Next time someone says your music needs to be “louder”, show them this post. If they want more information, show them this, and this, and this.
Loudness has no impact on sales.
That is all.
Related posts:
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Great post (and great album!)
to Ben Jaz: You can check that album here – http://www.listenbeforeyoubuy.net/listen/listen-jack-white-blunderbuss-full-album-stream/
Ian you are 100% right. This loudness war needs to level out. I’ll tweet this out.
Thanks
Mike
Hate to crash the part, but bx_meter tells a different story, with the album being about 1.5-2dr above minimum, dipping into crushed territory occassionally. That is a different algorith though, it’s quicker and looks at lowest common denominators, musical dynamicness in general too.
Thanks for everything you do to educate people. I wonder if posting dynamic range alerts to iTunes or Amazon reviews of albums would help too.
How many people would have avoided purchase of Led Zeppelin’s “Mothership” if they saw a recommendation that other CD releases were truer to how they remembered the original releases? I know that, after having seen the Dr Database, I will always refer to that before purchasing an album. Up to this point, I have had to rely on my ear listening to the samples online.