Nice and easy! But whether they knew it at the time or not, this accelerated awareness about loudness normalization among producers and engineers, increasingly influencing the sound of music production overall. Rather than having to adjust the volume when shuffling between songs, Spotify would measure the perceptual loudness and adjust the volume for you. When Spotify first introduced loudness normalized playback to its platform, the purpose was to create a better listening experience for users (following in the footsteps of terrestrial radio and Apple’s iTunes). A brisk history of loudness normalization It’s on us to stay ahead of the curve and stay informed. Note though-platforms like Spotify aren’t static they evolve and standards are updated over time. One of the biggest players in streaming, Spotify, just updated its information on loudness normalization and file formats, so we thought this would be a good time to go through the most important parts and break down what it means for us as music producers and audio engineers. As audio engineers, it’s critical to understand what’s happening when we upload a final version of our songs to streaming services, since this is what most listeners are likely going to be hearing. And though they’ll forever have their fans, the days of LPs, Tapes, CDs, and even MP3 downloads being the standards for music consumption are waning.

In 2021, the vast majority of listeners are consuming music through streaming services.

Increase volume of wav file