Do some songs get a 'radio-only' mix?

[Morgan C]

I heard the new Taylor Swift song on the radio, and it was really different to the song I had on my iPod.. Not only the mix, but different arrangements, and there was a synth throughout the song.

And often I'll hear a song on the radio that sounds really full, with a lot going on, and then I'll listen at home and it sounds really empty. It may just be the crushing limiting of the radio, but this wouldn't work for the Taylor Swift song.. do some hit songs get a mix specifically for radio?


edit: I just checked that Swift song on iTunes and it's like it was on the radio.. I downloaded it when it leaked and must have got a different (but equally professional, I'd say better) mix..

 

[Skinny Viking]

well, the album version of Iron Maiden's "Wicker Man" song is different from the single version

The single has the extra chorus parts that were sadly and sorely missing on the album version

as for the mix itself sound-wise ... I never noticed much different about it than that but I'm pretty sure there are plenty of artists/labels/producers/etc .. that want vocals pushed up higher, moar bass, etc ... for a single/radio "version" of a tune

 

[dcb]

i think they add all the little extras to make the song more intersting on small speakers.
i mean most people lsiten to radio on low levels. if there is a massive bass guitar, that souds fuckin amazing when you crank the volume,
it might sound boring at low levels, so they add all the extra stuff (synths, percussions, fx) for low level listening (id say).

 

[DallasAdrenaline]

Compare Slipknots video - and album versions of Wait And Bleed and My Plague. They have lowered the amount of distortion in the bass sound and seem to have even re-recorded the vocals. It's very common in every scene to have varying single - and album versions.

Maybe the single is published after the album and you get extra time to record some additional chorus parts or you assume radio listeners don't care much about hifi (see above). Some artist re-write/re-record explicit lyrics such that nothing is beeped out. Further, the approximate standard length of a radio song is three and a half minutes, and if you think the 8 minute track on your album has hit potential you might want to make a 3:30 minute mix/arrangement.

...who is Taylor Swift?

 

[ahjteam]

Radio version, from Nuclear Blast Europe's channel:



and the record version:

 

[Harley Barley]

end of heartache music video

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zb1Wghne1w&feature=av2n[/ame]

end of heartache album version

 

[greyskull]

The most obvious is Nickel backs how you remind me. There was a middle of the road version where the Big crushing guitars on the chorus were 98% replaced with accoustics

 

[DanLights]

yeah happens a lot, didn´t it happen with Megadeth releasing a "single" mix of one of the songs and Andy said he had nothing to do with that mix and that he didn´t like it at all?

 

[digitaldeath]

Opeth - The Grand Conjuration is edited to shit if you happen to see the promo vid.
First time I noticed it was as a kid, Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit. The intro is shorter and so is the solo when compared to the album version.

 

[DanLights]

Opeth - The Grand Conjuration is edited to shit if you happen to see the promo vid.
First time I noticed it was as a kid, Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit. The intro is shorter and so is the solo when compared to the album version.

yeah of course so are a million other vids like Ghost in the fog by Cof, and the radio edit of Opeth´s burden is also terribly cut short, the fade out is so fast it makes my stomach sick. Oh and Slipknot´s My plague video is also very annoyingly cut short. But this is a radio "edit", not a radio "mix" as stated in the Op, this is obviously done just to shorten the song and make it fit into acceptable length to show it on Tv. I´m so glad Tool never gave into this bullshit, and fuck they were aired anyways.

I don´t think this is going to be getting done very often nowadays, now that metal band music videos are mainly youtube material and not tv material

 

[nwright]

I'd say it's rather common among mainstream/pop music to have alternate mixes for radio and promo compared to the album tracks.

 

[kev]

well, the album version of Iron Maiden's "Wicker Man" song is different from the single version

The single has the extra chorus parts that were sadly and sorely missing on the album version

as for the mix itself sound-wise ... I never noticed much different about it than that but I'm pretty sure there are plenty of artists/labels/producers/etc .. that want vocals pushed up higher, moar bass, etc ... for a single/radio "version" of a tune

Jesus Christ dude, i'd never heard this until you said, and then youtube'd it!!! How the fuck did I miss that one. It must have been was when I was just getting into metal back then around 13/14.

The drums are much snappier and you can hear the solo a lot more clearly too.

 

[slashvanyoung]

Morgan, have you never bought a single?

Because these re-mixes and re-edits are very often used as "filler" or "bonus" material on singles.

When these songs hit our station, it's not unusual that we get 3 different versions of a song (different mixes and edits). Add the station's own edits to that and you're sometimes having not less than 5 versions of a song in the system.

 

[Morgan C]

Radio version, from Nuclear Blast Europe's channel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAfRW_RMK4M

and the record version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8NmppjdlME

Wow, that's a ridiculous difference. The radio version sounds like shit.

Morgan, have you never bought a single?

Because these re-mixes and re-edits are very often used as "filler" or "bonus" material on singles.

When these songs hit our station, it's not unusual that we get 3 different versions of a song (different mixes and edits). Add the station's own edits to that and you're sometimes having not less than 5 versions of a song in the system.

I know a lot of albums and singles have remixes or whatever, but they're usually pretty drastic (like a metal song to a techno/dance version or something), or have pretty major compositional/arrangement differences. Ahjteam's link above is more what I'm talking about.

 

[Therion_Prime]

Does it have anything to do with Mono compatability?