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Loudness War Myths Explored: 1 - Louder is better (and sells more copies)

April 4th, 2014 BY 



Louder is better, right ?

And "loud" records sell more copies, right ?

Well... yes.

- And no.

The truth is, it's a bit more complicated than that, really !

This is the first in a series of videos where I demonstrate and investigate some popular loudness war myths, so you can decide for yourself whether they stand up or not.

In this video I make one of the biggest hits of last year, "Get Lucky" by Daft Punk, "Loudness War loud", which should make it sound better and sell more records, according to the myth - then I test the real-world effect using my new Perception Plugin.

Watch the video to hear it for yourself and make up your own mind!

In the next video, I'll be testing the idea that "loud" sound makes music sound better in our increasingly noisy modern environment. Check back for updates soon.

(To find out more about the loudness-versus-sales research, click here.)


ABOUT IAN SHEPHERD

My name is Ian Shepherd - I'm a professional mastering engineer with over 25 years experience and I run the Production Advice website with over 50,000 readers each month

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