Many claim that people are listening to music more but enjoying it less, some people in the recording industry say they know why. They blame the iPod and the compressed MP3 music files.

Producers,engineers, and mixers assume their recordings will be heard as MP3s on an iPod music player and has become a “reference platform” used as a test of how a track should sound – thus engineering music to a technical lowest common denominator.

“Right now, when you are done recording a track, the first thing the band does is to load it onto an iPod and give it a listen,” said Alan Douches, who has worked with Fleetwood Mac and others. Today, young artists think MP3s are a high-quality medium and the iPod is state-of-the-art sound.”

L.A. engineer Jack Joseph Puig (Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton) says “Ten years ago, music was warmer; it was rich and thick, with more tones and more ‘real power.’ But newer records are more brittle and bright. They have what I call ‘implied power.’ It’s all done with delays and reverbs and compression to fool your brain.”

Producer Howard Benson, who has worked with Santana, My Chemical Romance and Chris Daughtry, says members of a studio recording crew will sometimes complain after a session, “I just spent all this time getting the greatest guitar and drums solo, and it ends up as an MP3.” (WSJ)

The Bottom Line – Advancement in technology is supposed to improve or enhance. Although new music technology has made it easier to organize and deliver, it hasn’t enhanced or improved sound. We have alot of mountains to climb…