08-Feb-2016, 22:39
This isn't exactly news; it's been out there for a while. But I haven't noticed any discussion of it here. (I did a search for 'watermark' and nothing relevant came up.)
It seems that Universal Music Group (UMG) has been using watermarking on the files it sells to streaming and download services, and that unlike much watermarking, this is actually audible. Not only is it audible, it's offensively so. It's particularly noticeable on classical music (as you'd expect, since classical music is generally very well recorded and mastered) and especially piano and vocal music.
The watermarking can be heard in the form of a very rapid oscillation of volume. Some people have described it as being like hearing a piano from behind a waterfall.
It's likely that this audible watermarking affects all UMG music available on the main streaming services (Spotify, Tidal, Deezer, Qobuz) and downloaded files (although it's been suggested that files downloaded direct from UMG aren't affected). It doesn;t affect CDs.
This first came to prominence back in 2012, thanks to Matt Montag, an engineer at Spotify. He's posted some interesting material, including a blind test (you all know how much I like blind tests!) comparing watermarked and non-watermarked files. Some people have scored full marks on the test, which suggests the effects of the watermarking really are pretty horrid.
This raises very serious questions about the quality of streamed and downloaded files. Tidal, Qobuz and Deezer claim to offer CD-quality streaming and downloads. In fact, the UMG material (which makes up around 25% of all material on these sites: UMG is huge!) isn't CD quality at all. It's been horribly degraded by UMG. If you've bought UMG downloads, in all likelihood the files you've bought have been nastily hobbled.
This should be a major scandal. Compared to a choice between two mains cables, this is actually really important.
It seems that Universal Music Group (UMG) has been using watermarking on the files it sells to streaming and download services, and that unlike much watermarking, this is actually audible. Not only is it audible, it's offensively so. It's particularly noticeable on classical music (as you'd expect, since classical music is generally very well recorded and mastered) and especially piano and vocal music.
The watermarking can be heard in the form of a very rapid oscillation of volume. Some people have described it as being like hearing a piano from behind a waterfall.
It's likely that this audible watermarking affects all UMG music available on the main streaming services (Spotify, Tidal, Deezer, Qobuz) and downloaded files (although it's been suggested that files downloaded direct from UMG aren't affected). It doesn;t affect CDs.
This first came to prominence back in 2012, thanks to Matt Montag, an engineer at Spotify. He's posted some interesting material, including a blind test (you all know how much I like blind tests!) comparing watermarked and non-watermarked files. Some people have scored full marks on the test, which suggests the effects of the watermarking really are pretty horrid.
This raises very serious questions about the quality of streamed and downloaded files. Tidal, Qobuz and Deezer claim to offer CD-quality streaming and downloads. In fact, the UMG material (which makes up around 25% of all material on these sites: UMG is huge!) isn't CD quality at all. It's been horribly degraded by UMG. If you've bought UMG downloads, in all likelihood the files you've bought have been nastily hobbled.
This should be a major scandal. Compared to a choice between two mains cables, this is actually really important.
