The MIR Perspective on the Evolution of Dynamics in Mainstream Music

Understanding the evolution of mainstream music is of high interest for the music production industry. In this context, we argue that a MIR perspective may be used to highlight, in particular, relations between dynamics and various properties of mainstream music. We illustrate this claim with two results obtained from a diachronic analysis performed on 7200 tracks released between 1967 and 2014. This analysis suggests that 1) the so-called “loudness war” has peaked in 2007, and 2) its influence has been important enough to override the impact of genre on dynamics. In other words, dynamics in mainstream music are primarily related to a track’s year of release, rather than to its genre.