Adele's latest single "Easy On Me" doesn't use a click track or autotune, but it is still mastered pretty loud. At least on CD, that is.

On YouTube that doesn't seem to be the case, though - and the loudness is just the beginning of the story. This video shows several ways that the YouTube version sounds different to other streaming platforms, and suggests some reasons why that might be.

Does the long quiet introduction give this video a secret "loudness advantage" after normalization? Is the difference in sound just a trick of the ear, because of the sound effects? What about the numbers? Are the differences just caused by different codecs? And most importantly, how loud is it? Does the loudness suit the material, and is it necessary to convey the artistic intention?

Take a listen, and see what you think!