

7 Decades, 7 Musical Evolutions - brianwhitman
http://blog.echonest.com/post/70299217721/7-decades-7-musical-evolutions

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aroch
So by get getting louder they mean there's less dynamic range (range from
softest to loudest) with the narrowing favoring a louder new-average. This
however makes sense, at least to me, if we look at how music is being consumed
these days. A great deal of music is now consumed during noisy activities --
working out, taking the train to work, driving -- compared to the '50's though
early '90's (before Walkman's become true commodity goods) when the majority
of listening was done in relatively quite environments -- at home in your
living room, at concerts.

Portable music listening, in louder environments, necessitates the increased
'loudness' in order for songs to be heard by the average person. Most people
aren't buying $100-500 IEHP/OEHP to listen to their music, so it becomes
pointless to add in quieter and more subtle bits to pop songs since they are
lost to the environment for many people. Additionally, radio broadcasts lose
dynamic range during to transmission and most cars lack the audio horsepower
(so to speak) to properly replicate tracks from local-media sources let alone
from a radio broadcast.

