Inside the Studio: Who is the Mastering Engineer—A Producer’s Opinion

Ever heard the term ‘radio-ready’? Contrary to what you may have heard, mastering isn’t about pumping up the volume or making things radio-ready—it’s about bringing a project together and formatting it for various destinations. Back in the '90s, before the music business fell off the cliff, mix masters were busting at the seems to be the loudest thing on the radio—back when radio was the format. Now, we’ve got streaming, CD, vinyl, cassette (yep, they’re back), Bluetooth, vending machines, air pods, noise-canceling headphones, Pono, Amazon, Tidal, HD tracks… Somebody has to keep track of it all while the rest of us record music! Enter the black art of mastering…