Why records DO all sound the same

Why records DO all sound the same: Simon Leadly's wonderful essay on the business of the factory-music business -- "No, it's not you - records do all sound the same these days. Desperate to get their music on the radio at all costs, record labels are employing a new and powerful software to artificially sweeten it, polish it, make it 'louder' -- and squeeze out the last drops of its individuality."
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJJm2ADeAlg&hl=en&fs=1]

Citing the above video, Simon offers some insider observations on the clever craft of the top-of-the-chart hits, on why they sound the way they do, and how and why its come to this mad spiral craving for the culturally toxic and experientially taste-less hyper-insulinemia of sound we call 'radio':

"... the tedium is mind-boggling as they play the same lame riff over and over and over again. At one point, singer Adam Levine says: “I’m sick of trying to engineer songs to be hits.” But that’s exactly he proceeds to do.

"The final version of Makes Me Wonder came in three versions...

It was a spectacular hit."