Mixing for Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, etc. self publishing your music & the death of the "Loudness War"

Anyone familiar with mixing for different online formats? It's part of my day to day now but I hear a ton of stuff self published stuff online that just sounds hashed for not knowing how to mix for each medium.

It's actaully really easy to fix now. All my clients get a seperate mix for all the major online platforms on top of a copy of their mastering house mix be it for vinyl, etc. (cuz in some cases I know they're likely gonna post it before it's mastered- & even if it gets mastered/mastered properly). It's got my name on it no matter what- so damn if I'm gonna let something come out sounding shitty with my name on it.

The short version is that now almost every online streaming format now has a normilization algorithm that renders "slammed" heavily complressed mixes less...plesant. It favors more dynamic mixes basically.

I use a couple of tools in mix down- iZotope Ozone has a handy "preview" feature for WAV, mp3, etc. and I then it was a bit of trial and error to figure out what worked best on each online streaming format. That was the catch- None of these streaming services are gonna tell you HOW their algorithms work cuz then people would just try and game the system. Now there are some tools out there that will actaully let you know how to mix for each service. Dynameter is what I'm using currently.

Check it out-

http://meterplugs.com/dynameter

Not a paid endorsement of course- I'm sure there are many similar services that do the same job.

Check out the videos and you'll get a much better explaination of how this stuff works and why it matters for anyone who posts their own music online. If only so you know how this will effect you.

Get your parallel compression game face on...

Last note- as far as I know Soundcloud is one of the few services that DOESN'T use this tech that I'm aware of...

Lord I remeber the days when I just checked my mixes on a few headphones, monitors, speakers, & in the car. (pro tip- you can quickly & easily build yourself a FM trasmitter so you can easily check mixes in your car and tweak away much faster. No more multiple bounces!)

Fairly certain nobody on the boards is interested in this but there is news on this-

Spotiy has changed their Normaization Level

Here's the gist-

Spotify has lowered its normalization level from -11 LUFS to -14 LUFS, matching Tidal and bringing it closer to iTunes (-16 LUFS).

The new level provides increased headroom for dynamics, meaning that dynamic music will play back just as loud as more compressed music.

and if you care to read more the article is here:

http://meterplugs.com/blog/2017/07/19/spotify-lowers-normalization-level.html?utm_source=MeterPlugs+Newsletter&utm_campaign=d7415634f8-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_07_20&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_dfa3db1db5-d7415634f8-111886349&mc_cid=d7415634f8&mc_eid=5bf08f1400

Makes for a good read while you wait for the beach ball of death spiral on your session to JUST STOP...

Please do not think that because I didnt' comment that I don't care.

I have recently, (last night in fact) had a collaborator post some of the songs that I have provided guitar parts for to a National Radio website. They are there for all to see, including my guitar demos I had sent him. Aside from the fact that they were single take rough cuts that I laid down to listen to and build on and get his opinion from, and ALSO aside from the fact that he had not included all parts and laid down a minimal version of what I had sent as a matched and built scape of complimenting sounds... The mix HAS COME OUT really brash.

It has obviously been "optimised" for their listening format and his mixes simply do not mesh well with it.

Thanks for posting this so that we can all get a better understanding of what can happen to our mix when it gets out of our hands/ desks, and what we can look at, as ways to preserve the presentation of the product that we worked hard on getting the sound of.

Aw, I don't take it personal at all I get why people might not be interested.

Not many hardcore studio heads on the boards I know of & I thought this might draw them out.

For those who aren't studio heads I figured they might not even know about this kinda thing & it might be helpful to know if they self publish online like nearly everyone with an instrument does these days.

That said this is mainly a concern for mastering engineers.

The plug-in is only 100 bucks though so I use it when I know proper mastering isn't going to happen...added value for my services and all.

As for your recent experience-

I don't know what happened in the recording process or what they optimized it for. There's a ton of variables in there.

I do know that in the hands of someone who isn't capable the following things can trash a mix in no time:

• maximizers
• inflators
• fianalizers
• vitalizers
• enhancers
• limiters & any other limiter +bells & whistles (too many to cover)

All can make things sound super harsh & grainy. Buzz words are usually "FAT" or "adds excitment" or other some such garbage.

all used with reckless abandon in my experience...hurts my ears. Not figuratively, like they're actually painful not just offending my personal taste.

When time allows & if anyone was interested I thought it would be fun to have someone on here shoot me the stems for a song they recorded that isn't sounding how they want it to and mix it here & see if I can get them there. Maybe in August I'll have the time to give that a go if someone wants to give it a shot.

Oh yeah, I forgot the other reason I thought this might be helpful.

If you're not really into the recording end of things but still want your music to sound great and you've got 100 bucks to spare if you throw this on your master it will very quickly tell you if you're over compressing you songs.

If you are and you still like how it sounds, at least you know what's happening.

The whole "learn the rules before you break them" thing.

I slam drums to cassette tape when I wanna get nasty. Breaking the rules is one thing, knowing where & why your breaking them-breaking the rules with intent- as with all things music is where the good shit happens.

It's not the best way to learn about compression but in lou of nothing at all? Definitely a better option.