Why does today's music sound like (not that it is) crap?

Compare the two waveforms above.

Is it merely nostalgia – and by enjoying such nostalgia are you only showing your age – or did music use to sound better? (I am not saying that the music was any better, only that it sounded better.) Well, it’s not just nostalgia – though there is a bit of that – there is reason behind the claim: compression. Here’s a good article laying out the problem:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/aug07/5429

There’s also a very good ‘multi-media’ presentation at:

http://spectrum.ieee.org/aug07/5480

You see, I am not making this all up.