I don’t need to tell you the difference between a song recorded in the ’70s or ’80s and a song recorded in 2022, but since it’s such a short answer, I’ll tell you anyway; bass. If you want to be more precise, bass and volume. As DJs, we all know this to be true. Now, we could argue back and forth about whether this is a good thing or not, but since the answer to that question is also obvious (it’s not a good thing), let’s skip that, too. The salient question today is: will dynamic range ever make a comeback?

Part of the reason songs are recorded with “all maximum volume all the time,” along with “all maximum bass at all time,” mode on is because most music is being played on low-fidelity sound systems, so as long as laptops and earbuds are the standard, music is going to have to be cranked past 11 with limiters and compressors just to make it audible. Gone are the days when listeners trained their ears to listen for nuances in the quiet parts of songs, for gone are the days of songs with quiet parts.

DJs are constantly asking “how can I make an old song sound good?” What they’re really asking is how to make an old song sound like it was recorded today. They play a song from the ’70s, or the ’80s, or even the ’90s and it isn’t as loud as a modern song. The bass doesn’t pound as much. They mistake that feature for an error, and try to correct it by remixing the track with modern digital drums, inadvertently sucking the life, and soul, out of the song.

No doubt, if you asked DJs if musicians will ever again produce songs with greater dynamic range, or if dance tracks will be released that don’t have bass drums pounding at earthquake levels at all times, they would respond with a no. After all, DJs and producers are busy altering the music of the past to remove those aspects, so why would they create new music with the same flaws?

Maybe they’d be right. Or, maybe what’s trendy today will be passé tomorrow, and music will cycle back to a more listener-friendly, nuanced approach. What do you think music will sound like in 20 years?