Engineers reveal how Loudness Wars peaked in the digital era in new Waves documentary

A new, original documentary from Waves explores how modern music got competitively louder as producers began to push volume to its limits with the introduction of digital tools.

The documentary, titled How Music Got Loud: The Untold Story of the Loudness Wars, is out now to watch for free on YouTube. This short and unique doc runs for 12 minutes and features interviews with the engineers who experienced Loudness Wars for themselves.

The film not only explains how this trend began but also examines how the pendulum swung back, and the pursuit of musicality returned to the fore. It explores the industry’s attempts at balancing its obsession with loudness while encouraging dynamic range.

“For three decades, the pursuit of loudness has redefined audience expectations. This short film exposes why Led Zeppelin now sounds relatively quiet compared to today’s chart-toppers like Sabrina Carpenter,” says Waves in a press release shared with MusicTech.

“It reveals how, starting in the early 1990s, digital tools gave producers unprecedented power and temptation to push volume to its limits. What began as innovation soon became an obsession, transforming the way records sound and how we listen.”

Though short, the doc features integral interviews with engineers Howie Weinberg (Nirvana, Red Hot Chili Peppers), Dale Becker (Billie Eilish, SZA), Gavin Lurssen & Reuben Cohen (of the mastering house responsible for releases by Metallica, Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters and Robert Plant), as well as Jesse Ray Ernster (engineer for Doja Cat, Burna Boy, etc.).

Also featured are mastering legend Bob Katz, author of Mastering Audio: The Art and the Science, and Meir Shashoua, Co-founder and CTO of Waves.

You can watch the trailer and check out the full documentary in the videos below:

Learn more about Waves.

Rachel is a DIY musician who began learning guitar and keyboard from her bedroom at 14. She has written news and features for MusicTech since 2022, and also has bylines across Kerrang!, Guitar.com, and The Forty-Five. Though a lover of heavy music, her guilty pleasure is 2000s pop.