Great topic
@Bill from November Sound There's so much choice these days re: how we listen to music.
As an older listener - I got lazy and just used streaming - either google music or BBC radio shows.
But after 25 years of having all my old records in storage, I setup my record player and realised what I've been missing. I also realised that my LP collection (like a lot of people) stopped in the last 80s when CDs came out.
I've been adding new records from new music that I like - it's not cheap here in Australia - approx 40 dollars for an album. A lot of my old records still have original price stickers on there, and I got some great LPs for 1 to 2 pounds 40 odd years ago!
But to me it's worth it - I listen to whole albums now instead of picking and choosing tracks and the sound is so much fuller and richer.
I digress though...
I don't think it's possible to mix a song for all devices.
When the band I was in did a "proper" CD and had it mastered professionally, we actually got two sets of masters back. One for the CD manufacturer and one for online streaming.
If we wanted to vinyl we would have needed a third set of masters as that's different again.
Apparently Spotify and iTunes even have different requirements for their masters.
So I think the mastering depends on where you think your listens will come from.
Was it Neil Young who tried to come up with his own digital format and player as he was fed up with all that work and thought that he and other artists spend to get the sound they want, only for it to be lost by streaming?
If we think that listeners will listen on phones or cheap headphones, then do we need to mix/master on those devices to check them?
For me, as an amateur who'll never get a lot of listeners it's not really relevant and my focus these days is on the live sound. But it's a really interesting topic.
cheers
Recent Posts
. I've added an extra background choir now. Is that what you were thinking of?