| Mixing And Mastering In The Ipod And Computer Speaker Era | | Print | |
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This article isn't going to discuss "how" to mix and master for ipods and computers, but will emphasize the importance of it. In the 80's the full-size home stereo was in a lot of homes, as was a boom box. The big car stereo just came out too. Then you had the clubs. MTV just started, so music on TV was not that big yet. I'd have to guess that in the 80's, 70% of all music was listened to on a boom box or on a car stereo. Home PCs didn't exist. Zoom up to 2010. Full-size home stereos are gone, boom boxes are now bookshelf stereos, car stereos still exist, but there's now an ipod (or mp3 player) and computer speakers. If you're a major label artist whose label just paid $1.5 million to get your "one song" played on national radio, 90% of your listeners are going to hear you on a car radio, almost exclusively for at least the first week. But what if you're an indie band or indie artist selling on the Internet? Well. you'll probably have 90% of your listeners initially listening to you on cheap computer speakers. Then if they buy your mp3, I'm going to say it will be listened to on roughly:
Of course it has to sound good on a car stereo system too, but you have to emphasize the importance of what your music will BY FAR be played on. If your songs sound bad on computer speakers, you can forget about ever making it to a car stereo!! No one will ever buy them! In future articles we will discuss what you need to do to sound your best on these critical mediums. Related Articles
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