[MLA] Reviving the apple petition idea

[Bob Katz]

Guys. Please include Ian Stewart in your replies to this plea from me. Please include Andres Mayo in your replies. This message sent to the music loudness alliance, Ian Stewart and Andres Mayo, mastering engineer and current president of the AES. 

Guys, I think it's time to play a little more hardball with Apple. As audio engineers, as the music loudness group, as individuals and even the president of the audio engineering society, we've been playing the gentle, softball diplomatic approach to our plea to get Apple to make Sound Check a default. I know that they have been listening and hearing our message but ignoring it. Some unknown Apple executive (I have ideas who it might be) with a lot of power is blocking this decision. 

I've had some success with my trad rock and jazz clients that the loudness war is waning and that a conservative master will fare better on the Loudness normalized services. But in the case of current pop and punk style rock we are not able to win this argument. The producers are not willing to produce a "conservative" master when the competition is at -7 LUFS! At that level a dB of reduction is an imperceptible drop in the bucket. 

I just lost a plea to a client not to ruin his master because he says that teenagers don't know where iTunes preferences are and when they download the song or album it's going to seem low compared to the competition. He said, "crush it, Bob, that's what I want". And he has a point. 

The thrust of my argument was that YouTube, Prodigy, iTunes Radio and other services are loudness normalized and I even demonstrated to him that the competing piece he was using as an example is a casualty of the loudness war. By asking him to put that piece and my master into iTunes with Sound Check we clearly demonstrated that my master sounds fantastic, that it kicks ass and that his example piece is super wimpy with the worst sounding compression you can imagine. 

But that was not important to him. He just wants it loud for the people who buy and download the piece. 

And that was the end of it. Because he has a point. Apple not making Sound Check a default is a very big thorn in our side. That's always been the battle I've tried to fight for a long time. And now with Apple Music streaming also not being loudness normalized it's a slap in the face to our efforts for better sound. 

No amount of coddling, pleading, soft talk, books and articles has had any effect on Apple. And they aren't interested in participating in our committees or seminars either. 

I am now going to advocate we play hard ball. Because we've tried every other avenue and failed. The only thing that will convince Apple is a public outcry. I am suggesting a public petition, articles about that subject in the magazines and a public plea to Apple to save our music heritage.

 I am suggesting publicizing this petition at the AES convention and also with NARAS.  I suspect that publicly the AES will not get behind this because of their corporate stance. But perhaps Andres as a mastering engineer/president can help us get past that resistance. But a public petition sponsored by the AES is unprecedented. 

In the past the objection to such a petition has been that it might backfire, that Apple would stonewall us. Yet I have reached the point that only a carefully constructed public campaign will get results. 

We are on the threshold of approving Streaming Loudness guidelines. As the co-chair of that committee I would like to write a press release that announces these guidelines and encourage getting them to all the streaming entities. We can use this press release as a public plea to streaming entities and even without mentioning Apple's name we all will know who the 500 kilo gorilla is. 

Maybe after that press release goes out we'll finally get some back channel response from Apple. But I think a petition should also be made and at the convention is a perfect place to get signatures 

My 5000 Facebook friends are tired of the Loudness War. We all want it to end. The time is now. 

What say we get behind an effort of this sort timed to occur at the New York convention!

Best wishes 

Bob

My iPhone made me write this. Quotes only below this line. Nothing more to see here. 
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