Back in 1877, Edison cranked his machine and sang into the receiver, “Mary had a little lamb, whose fleece was white as snow…” After finishing, he reset the needle, cranked the handle again, and—miraculously—the machine played back his very own song! The astonishment among his assistants was palpable. A machine that could record and replay sound? It was a sensation that spread like wildfire around the world. That year, Edison invented the phonograph—widely regarded as one of his greatest achievements.
In those early days, the purely mechanical recording meant there was no way to adjust the volume. Want it louder? You had to get right up close. Want it softer? Instead of stepping back, you’d actually remove your socks and stuff them into the speaker! And to capture a good recording, the whole orchestra had to huddle together so nothing was left out, while the singers had to belt out their tunes at the top of their lungs.
Thankfully, technology didn’t stand still. Soon, engineers began using electroacoustics to boost or reduce specific frequencies, setting maximum and minimum sound levels, and developing equalizers, limiters, and compressors.
Before long, record industry insiders discovered a clever trick: jukeboxes played records at a fixed volume, so if you made the recording louder during production, it would instantly grab the listener’s attention—and boost record sales. And just like that, the so-called “Loudness War” had begun.
The Loudness War was all about turning up the volume to capture ears. This tactic worked like a charm and quickly spread to radio and advertising. On the radio, louder records naturally held listeners’ attention, and in advertising, booming soundtracks made a lasting impression. As more people cranked up their records’ loudness, keeping your volume at the original level meant your music suddenly sounded weak in comparison. This forced more artists and producers to join the volume race in a bid to carve out their own space in the market.
But as the volume increased, so did the downsides. Early technology had its limits—record grooves couldn’t handle endless volume boosts, and with high background noise and limited dynamic range, there was only so much you could do.
Then CDs arrived, giving the record industry a fresh new playground. The battleground of the Loudness War shifted to pop music, where chart rankings directly influenced album sales. With competition fierce, everyone turned to the simplest trick: boost the volume to grab the listener’s attention, climb the charts, and ultimately, drive up sales. If you look at the waveforms of popular albums from that era, they grew larger and larger—almost like a wall of sound.
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You might think that the Loudness War is just a matter of things sounding louder—and that louder music is more exciting. But here’s the catch: turning up the volume too much sacrifices a song’s dynamic range and frequency details, causing the emotional ebb and flow of the music to fade away.
Even worse, overly loud music is prone to distortion, reduced sound quality, and can lead to listener fatigue—even inflicting irreversible hearing damage. Imagine every song, from its quietest whispers to its loudest bursts, pushed to the very limit. That’s a lot of pressure on your ears!
Fast forward to today, and the Loudness War is still raging on. From records to radio, TV, and even on social media and short-video platforms, many songs continue to rely on sheer volume to capture our attention. However, the music industry has begun to recognize the downsides of pursuing unchecked loudness. Many platforms now impose volume limits—if a track exceeds the reference level, its volume is automatically dialed down.
But platform restrictions alone aren’t enough. Ultimately, it’s up to music producers—and listeners—to make better choices. That’s why when you use Earvate devices, we encourage you not to chase after the loudest sound possible. When adjusting the volume, aim for a level that lets you clearly hear a normal conversation from about 1.5 to 2.5 meters away. There’s no need to crank it up higher just to hear better.
At Earvate, we’re also on a mission to tackle the growing—and increasingly youthful—challenges of hearing loss by developing even more lightweight, stylish, and affordable hearing devices. We sincerely hope that more people will recognize the importance of protecting their hearing, especially in today’s ever-louder world.