<description>&lt;p&gt;I see it every day: &lt;em&gt;“The Loudness Wars are over - loud won. Get over it”&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;And it’s easy to see why. The average mainstream release hits -8 LUFS integrated or more; club releases regularly hit -6 or even -4 LUFS and are peaking well above zero; every other post you see on social media is about a new limiter or clipping strategy…&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As the creator of &lt;a href="https://www.dynamicrangeday.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Dynamic Range Day&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="https://www.loudnesspenalty.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;Loudness Penalty&lt;/a&gt;, I should probably just give up and get my hat, right ?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Maybe….&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;But maybe not.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In this episode I dig into the evidence in 2026, and try to decide whether dynamics really &lt;strong&gt;are&lt;/strong&gt; dead or not, looking at:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;The LUFS of the biggest recent releases&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Why no-one hears it&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Are mixes &lt;strong&gt;built&lt;/strong&gt; too loud to be dynamic ?&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Why music fans don’t care (which could be good news) - and who &lt;strong&gt;does&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;What do we do about it ?&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Reasons to be optimistic about dynamics in 2026&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;p&gt;Links and more episodes here:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.themasteringshow.com/episode-106" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"&gt;www.themasteringshow.com/episode-106&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Mentioned in this episode:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Mastering&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://the-mastering-show.captivate.fm/ian"&gt;Click HERE to work with Ian&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Leapwing&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://the-mastering-show.captivate.fm/leapwing"&gt;Find out more about Leapwing's plugins&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Learn to master !&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://the-mastering-show.captivate.fm/resources"&gt;Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;</description>

The Mastering Show

The Mastering Show Podcast

The Mastering Show #106 - Are dynamics dead ?!

FEB 28, 202634 MIN
The Mastering Show

The Mastering Show #106 - Are dynamics dead ?!

FEB 28, 202634 MIN

Description

I see it every day: “The Loudness Wars are over - loud won. Get over it”And it’s easy to see why. The average mainstream release hits -8 LUFS integrated or more; club releases regularly hit -6 or even -4 LUFS and are peaking well above zero; every other post you see on social media is about a new limiter or clipping strategy…As the creator of Dynamic Range Day and Loudness Penalty, I should probably just give up and get my hat, right ?Maybe….But maybe not.In this episode I dig into the evidence in 2026, and try to decide whether dynamics really are dead or not, looking at:The LUFS of the biggest recent releasesWhy no-one hears itAre mixes built too loud to be dynamic ?Why music fans don’t care (which could be good news) - and who doesWhat do we do about it ?Reasons to be optimistic about dynamics in 2026Links and more episodes here:www.themasteringshow.com/episode-106Mentioned in this episode:MasteringClick HERE to work with IanLeapwingFind out more about Leapwing's pluginsLearn to master !Click HERE to see Ian's courses and mastering resources