Hi-Fi is no longer a sales pitch: “Quality is determined by consumer demand.”
“Meanwhile, each band listens to the music on the iPod immediately after completing a piece.”
The proliferation of the MP3 standard and the success of the iPod have led to a deterioration in audio quality standards in the music industry. Music producers, sound engineers and artists are increasingly complaining that they have to assume in the recording studio that later music will be heard in poor quality through poor quality headphones. “Now all bands listen to the music on their iPod as soon as they finish a song,” Alan Douches, who has worked with Fleetwood Mac in the past, told the Wall Street Journal. “Today, young musicians believe that MP3 is a high-quality medium and iPods are the latest in technology.”
“But quality is determined by consumer demand”
“The sound quality of MP3 is not good and from the audiophile point of view I agree,” says Peter Rantasa, Director of the Austrian Music Information Center (mica). “But the quality is determined by consumer demand. The different applications of modern use, for example, when moving with the iPod in a noisy environment, do not require the highest quality of sound. The same applies when I let the music plays in the background as background music. ”
Noisy
Another concern of producers is volume. Assuming loud music sells better, current productions would be released at a higher volume, which would also affect sound quality. “Quality is important to me, even if young people on the street like what they hear on MySpace, which is still below MP3 standards,” said Stuart Brawley, who recorded for Cher and Michael Jackson. “We try to offer the best quality possible, but we have to be realistic about how much time we can spend.”
Important for music distribution
However, opponents of the MP3 standard also admit that they own iPods and appreciate how they helped spread the music. It is unfortunate that the devices set technical standards for music production. Today, however, the higher audio quality is not a competitive advantage, Rantasa explains. “I think it is very difficult to find audiophile consumers. The media time budget is used differently today. Hardly anyone finds time to listen to a record for hours at home.”
