Apple's new "Mastered for iTunes" has been causing quite a buzz recently - and causing lots of confusion.
I'm going to try and explain it all as clearly as I can.
There are four ways that the term "Mastered for iTunes" can be interpreted.
The easiest to understand and least controversial definition of "Mastered for iTunes" is described on this page on Apple's site, here:
Mastered for iTunes - the guidelines
Basically it's a set of guidelines for people to follow, to ensure you get the best quality versions of you music files available in the iTunes Music Store. Apple also include free utilities that allow you to preview how your files will sound once they're encoded.
The guidelines are great - they encourage you to submit the highest quality files, and suggest how avoid falling into common traps that affect the quality - for example avoiding clipping and not over-cooking the music's level because of the so-called "Loudness Wars".
At the moment, the final files are still 44.1 KHz, 256 Kbps AAC files - so, they're perceptually encoded files, using lossy compression - basically like high-class mp3s.
Whether you'll hear a real difference from submitting a 24/96 version of your music is debatable - my quick tests suggest the answer is "not much" - but Apple also hint that in future they will use the high-quality masters to offer better downloadable versions in future, which can only be a good thing.
So far, so good.
Here's where things get a bit messier. Apple have also created a specific section of the iTunes store for files that have been mastered according to the "Mastered for iTunes" concept.
Mastered for iTunes - in the iTunes store
BUT this section includes examples that clearly don't follow the guidlelines!
So for example, titles like Metallica's "Beyond Magnetic" and the Red Hot Chili Pepper's "I'm With You" are both clear "loudness war" casulties - mastered at a ridiculously high levels and lifeless and full of distortion as a result.
They may have been supplied as hi-res files, but when the vinyl sounds better, you know something's gone wrong.
BUT
Imagine if the "Mastered for iTunes" version of "I'm With You" had followed Apple's guidelines, and sounded more like the vinyl !
In that case, I'd have no reservations in declaring the process a huge success. The disadvantages of the lossy encode would be completely outweighed by the improvement in sound.
This would be a little to do with high sample rates and bit depths at the source, but far more to do with great mastering. It could sound better than the current CD - because it would have more dynamics, more depth, more space, more punch - just better.
Maybe there are already "Mastered for iTunes" titles out there that already achieve this goal - if so, I'd love to hear them.
Since I wrote this post, Tom Davenport has unearthed some very interesting new information over on Gizmodo:
Apple is secretly upgrading your iTunes library
In a nutshell, Tom believes Apple are going to use the new HD-AAC format to allow us fully lossless access to files that have been "Mastered for iTunes" at some point in the future.
You should read the full article for all the details, but this is huge - and it makes it all the more critical that musicians, labels and mastering engineers take advantage of this future format upgrade.
What's the point of lossless 24/96 masters if they don't sound great ?
The good news is that according to this post, Dynamic Range Day supporter Bob Ludwig has already done this, with Coldplay's "Mylo Xloto", for example.
This is what we need - engineers making new, better-sounding masters for future higher-quality formats.
So is "Mastered for iTunes" the saviour of great sound after all ?
Not yet.
Apple have given us the opportunity, but it's still up to us to make the most of the new guidelines and future format upgrade to get great sound.
I'd love this to become a reality - for the "Mastered for iTunes" label to come synonymous with Great Sound - and even better sound when Apple eventually increase the quality of their download format.
If you agree - spread the word !
Post social media updates, start forum threads, support Dynamic Range Day - let people know we want "Mastered for iTunes" to really mean something.
So many people were asking me about MFiT that I've made video, demonstrating how to make sure your music complies with the guidelines - feel free to take a look:
Mastered for iTunes - video demonstration using the free Apple RoundTripAAC plugin
