Master six decibels louder and the platform turns you down six decibels. You end up exactly as loud as everyone else, with six decibels less dynamic range than you could have had. That arithmetic ended a twenty-year argument.
For about twenty years, records got louder. Every release was mastered a little harder than the last, because a louder track sounded more impressive next to its neighbours on the radio and in a shop, and nobody wanted to be the quiet one.
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