Yes, that's true. But in the long run, with YouTube being such an important player, the results should be positive.
The record company's mixers have been escalating a loudness war for years, in an effort to make the most impression on listeners. And the result of that is poor sound quality.
Now YouTube comes along and says "we're resetting you all back to a standard overall volume". Suddenly all that escalating loudness hasn't accomplished anything (or very little; probably there are ways to game the system a little), at least when listened to through YouTube, which as we said is hugely important.
If they're no longer able to compete in loudness, and the vain attempt to do so damages the quality of the recording, then in the long run the mixers ought to quit doing that. It's not going to save Death Magnetic, it's too late for that, but maybe we can reclaim fidelity in future recordings.
The record company's mixers have been escalating a loudness war for years, in an effort to make the most impression on listeners. And the result of that is poor sound quality.
Now YouTube comes along and says "we're resetting you all back to a standard overall volume". Suddenly all that escalating loudness hasn't accomplished anything (or very little; probably there are ways to game the system a little), at least when listened to through YouTube, which as we said is hugely important.
If they're no longer able to compete in loudness, and the vain attempt to do so damages the quality of the recording, then in the long run the mixers ought to quit doing that. It's not going to save Death Magnetic, it's too late for that, but maybe we can reclaim fidelity in future recordings.