Loudness War
A competition for loudness through compression, largely neutralized by normalization
Related
The loudness war is the record industry's long push to be louder than the competition, using compression and limiting to flatten dynamics so a track stands out on radio, TV and playlists. The trend intensified after CDs arrived in the 1980s.
The cost is softer transients, more distortion and listener fatigue; an album loses its ups and downs. Streaming platforms normalize by LUFS, so a louder master is turned down as a whole and the advantage gained through limiting largely disappears. Masters still balance target loudness against dynamics.
The usual mistake is declaring the war over. Normalization weakens the motive but not the contest to sound fuller at equal loudness; the common view is that keeping dynamics ages better than chasing peaks.
Sources
- 响度竞争与动态压缩，参 Bob Katz, Mastering Audio 与 Huber & Runstein, Modern Recording Techniques；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.