This is April and we will look at the number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, since number 1 is the one I did last month.  This is 'Meant To Be' by Bebe Rexha, featuring the Florida Georgia Line.
Here are the numbers.

LKFS/LUFS                -8.9 dB
Clipped Samples Left    501 
                               Right 588
DC Offset  +.020%,  +.016%
Dynamic Range        4.3 dB
RMS level left           -7.73dB
                  right         -7.88dB

​As is usual, could be better, could be worse.

I just keep on doing this for some reason.  This is the latest number one on Billboard's top 100 this week...Drake's 'God's Plan'.
Not as bad as some.  Here are the numbers.  As always, zoom your browser to see the details more clearly...(Ctrl +).

LKFS/LUFS   -11.9 dB
Clipped Samples Left  128 
                               Right  89
DC Offset -.024%, -.028%
Dynamic Range 11.3 dB
RMS level left   9.65dB
                  right 9.73dB

Here is the picture.

Time for our annual look at the Grammy Nominee CD.  I am not going to go through and give you a picture of each waveform.  I am not going to bother to sort each column.  You can look through the numbers and see for yourself that nothing has changed in the mastering world.  Ineptness is still the order of the day.  Here are the numbers for you to peruse and see for yourself.  Zoom in your browser to see the details.

The number one song as I write this is Ed Sheeran's Perfect singing with Beyonce.  The song is in the style of a gentle ballad and features average singing and songwriting quality.  It is mastered by Stuart Hawkes and the numbers are as follows.

LKFS     -10.5 dB
Clipped Samples Left     38
​Clipped Samples Right 198
DC Offset -0.001% (L&R)
Dynamic range 4.4 dB
RMS level left   -10.79 dB
RMS level right   -9.80 dB

The level of -10.5 is possibly encouraging, but this is the iTunes download, so it is probably better off than the CD version.  Again, no excuse for the clipped samples, the dc offset, the left-right imbalance.  The ballad style means that there is a less of a brick style to the overall waveform.  Overall it is a little better than what we usually see here.  Someday they may get it right.  Zoom your browser to see all the numbers.  Thus starts the year of 2018.  Next time we will look at the Grammy Winners CD.

I happened to run across this one from Herb Alpert.  Herb has been a source of good music for many decades and I just wanted to see how this latest one looked.  It was mastered by Vlado Meller and the numbers look like this.

LKFS or LUFS                  -9.8 dB
Clipped Samples Left    2670
Clipped Samples Right  3275
DC offset Left                +0.030%
​DC offset Right              +0.031% 
Dynamic Range              5.7 dB

The overall waveform picture looks like most others you see these days...
that is, peaks squashed in a flat line.
The EQ curve is not showing any glaring mistakes, which is good.
If you want to be picky, the bottom needs a little more 100 and a little less 125,
the midrange a few dB less from 1 to 2 kHz,
and the high end needs a few more dB from 8 to 12 kHz.
The level is not as bad as most you see these days at -9.8 dB. 
Most jobs these days are a constantly annoying -8 to even -6 dB.
There ought to be a law..at -16 dB.
The Clipped samples are an obvious major problem at almost 6,000.
The DC offset should be 0...as in 0 or 0.000%

​Here are the facts...as always, you can zoom your browser to see the details clearly.

In the number 2 position of Billboard's Top 100 songs at the start of December 2017 is 'Havana' by Camila Cabello.  It is a successful Latin Dance tune following in the footsteps of 'Despacito'.   It is mastered by Dave Kutch.  It is really impressive how the hardware will allow bad jobs like this to pass 18,000 clipped samples and it is not heard as digital distortion.

As you can see if you zoom in to the picture, the numbers are like this...

LKFS or LUFS is a typical -8.8 dB
Clipped Samples Left     8613
​Clipped Samples Right   9084
DC Offset Left    -.059%
​DC Offset Right  -.062%
Dynamic Range 5.2 dB
EQ is OK, no problems there

Another typical master for 2017.   Below you will see what the waveform looks like...

Let's take a look at the numbers on this currently number 1 on Billboard's top ten.

It looks like this...

LKFS/LUFS  -9.2 dB
Clipped Samples Left 7 Right 3
DC offset Left +.008%  Right +.007%
Dynamic Range  4.7 dB

There is not much to say about this one...the problems are caused by the over heavy bass...the clipped samples are better than most...LKFS is better than the -8 or below that we often see...and the dynamic range is better than a lot of the current crop at 4.7 dB.  EQ is fine until you get to the bass, where it is about 10 dB too much at around 40 Hz.  

For August we will pull another one off of the Billboard Top Ten, this one is at number 2 this week.  The song is 'Wild Thoughts' by D. J. Khaled.  Mastered by Chris Athens.  Compare it to last month's pick and we can see that it is even worse.   The numbers are as follows.

LKFS                             -6.8 dB
True Peak                   +1.3 dB
Left Channel     Clipped Samples 19,936
Right Channel   Clipped Samples 13,137