[MLA] 95% normalized

[Thomas Lund]

Hi Bob,

I think Ian has a point by including YouTube. Though I’m paying for my kids’ music streaming, they often still listen on YouTube.

cheers,
Thomas



On 29 Apr 2022, at 22.58, Bob Katz <bobkatz at digido.com> wrote:


On 4/29/22 7:03 AM, Ian Shepherd wrote:
> 
> Hi Bob,
>> Ian: I for one appreciate your incredible enthusiasm on your blog. 
>> 
> Thanks - I think...
>> Well.....    using YouTube as justification for what is ultimately an estimated uni-dimensional statistical value doesn't impress me.
>> 
> Can you say more about this ? The two different sources in the blog post I link to show both show the total reported number of streaming service users is (was in Q1 2021) about 500 million, and YouTube reported that 2 billion of their users consume music on the platform. So that’s a ballpark of 80% normalization as a minimum, in terms of where people are exposed to new music. (Which is the key - once someone has decided they like something they’ll do so regardless of the loudness)
> 
> So yes there is going to be plenty of inaccuracy in those figures, but the bottom line is that YouTube vastly outweighs the dedicated music platforms. And since YouTube is entirely normalized, that makes all the quibbling about default settings, users who disable it and the actual number of users on each particular service kind of irrelevant, doesn’t it ? I mean the “real” number might be 90% or even as low as 80% perhaps but that’s still a massive proportion.
> 
> Or have I missed something and made an embarrassing error ?

Not embarrassing. But I don't get how you are counting in what is largely a video streaming service.... I can see musicians completely ignoring YouTube. They want to know what Spotify and Apple are doing. And yes, since they are normalized (with Apple slowly getting there).. you've made your point. But statistically I would NOT include YouTube in a percentage of MUSIC streaming services. 

>> What impresses me is your marketing ability. I am so tempted to tell people that Ian Shepherd says that music platforms are already 95% normalized! 
>> 
>> 9 out of 10 doctors say so, too!
>> 
> I think that’s an unfair comparison, “9 out of 10 doctors” is a deliberately manipulated figure, the numbers I’ve used are a genuine attempt to compare how many listeners are on each service.
>> At least we are moving forward and thanks for the article. 
>> 
> Do you know the phrase “damned with faint praise” ? I regularly get comments from major-name mastering engineers telling me everything I say about this topic is nonsense, so if all I’m doing is a great sales job on something that is actually flawed logic, maybe I won’t bother 😕
> 
> Ian

I really mean what I said, you're doing a great job! And yes, you're practicing the best kind of marketing: putting a good face on the current situation. That is marketing....  on behalf of and for the benefit of us critical music producers. I just don't think it's fair to create a % number of MUSIC streaming. I think to be fair you must not include YouTube in your statistic. YouTube videos are often amateur productions with amateur soundtracks, and they must be accompanied by video. What's the % if you don't include Youtube?



Bob



-- 


If you want good sound on your album, come to
Bob Katz 407-831-0233 DIGITAL DOMAIN MASTERING STUDIO
Author: Mastering Audio
Digital Domain Website <https://www.digido.com/>

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