Why are many of the AJ songs so loud?

Many of the songs on AJ are extremely loud, compared to what most popular songs sound these days. I mean the compression is pushed so much, that the wave looks like a rectangle. What is the reason for this? Does it sound better with a lot of compression? I noticed that in some music genres (eg trance music) a lot of compression actually sounds good, but does it really apply for all genres?

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I’ve noticed that too. :frowning:

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Some people aim to be as loud as possible, and this loudness war is just killing dynamics. I don’t worry about being too loud, as long as my music is clear and balanced.

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@JackWinn: LOOL

@MattyFrench : Yeah I noticed. It might sound good in some situations, but it’s kind of weird most of the times I guess.

certain genres such as drum & bass, breaks, edm, most dance music infact needs to be tastefully pushed hard while retaining dynamics or it will just sound weak compared to any pro tracks - can’t see the point in pop/corporate etc tracks being compressed to the max though

I’m not going to get into the loudness war conversation, but personally, I think they’re too heavily compressed. Some have actually felt painful to listen to. I agree with @MattyFrench in that I prefer clear and well mixed over loud and harsh, regardless of style or genre.

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Oddly enough many live concerts are breaking the law by increasing the volume past ā€˜Workplace, health and safety’ levels. This flows on the recording of songs where the Authors ā€˜think’ everyone wants loud music. Wrong, wrong, wrong!

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Because I can.

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Hello fiddy / @fifty_tons, now there’s a name from the past I remember, hope all is well! :slight_smile:

Here are some great articles on the ā€œloudness warā€ that may help you…

##Loudness War Analyzed:

##Visual History of Loudness:
(Open up the PDF and zoom in to read…)

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Also see NPRs original article - The Loudness Wars - Why Music Sounds Worse

##Loudness explanation (video) in less than 2 minutes:

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That just made my day. :joy:

Well played, sir!

Can’t do mix good? Do it loud!
(sorry for my english)

Hey Scott, long time no see :slight_smile:
Yeah I know about the loudness war, but thanks for the links, I read some stuff I haven’t read before. So where the hell is this going to? :)) I’m just curious. As long as the technology remains the same and the threshold won’t change, how far will this be taken?

Because people become more deaf. Sadly. Because of noise pollusion, a related part of overall perception’s impurity following the overload of information. To catch attention becomes less about beauty and uniqueness but more and more about shock.

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Because all the ā€œmasteringā€ authors argue about really just means ā€œmasteringā€ against the common denominator, and the common denominator is LOUD. Of course in my limited experience if you try to submit something that’s not compressed or loud enough to AudioJungle, depending on the reviewer, they will send it back and tell you to make it louder…

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I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that people usually know how to mix but many don’t know how to master.

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it’s a trend in the whole music industry, not just here on AJ… my theory is that most of the people listen to music on cheap and low quality speakers and earphones so the loud music compensates for that…

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on audiojungle, as well as elsewhere in the world, began the race volume, it’s completely understandable thing. The fact is that when you are listening to several similar tracks in a row, then it is likely you like one louder. It is understood more in the 90s, since every producer tries to make as loud a track. There is an interesting example, a producer of Metallica wanted to make an album Dead Magnetic the loudest in the world:) the Result was kinked square album, Metallica are unhappy :slight_smile:

unfortunately after EDM music appeared everything had to be louder ! and of course you can have perfect dynamics with digital production ! Music is evolving but for the worst ! :confused:

because producers are deaf… :wink:

Yeah EDM is way louder than any other type of music. But for EDM that works good imo