What LUFS to Master To for Spotify, Apple Music & YouTube

For most streaming releases, master to around −14 LUFS integrated with a true peak at or below −1 dBTP, and only go louder when the genre's sound calls for it. Spotify documents that it plays music at about −14 LUFS by default, YouTube is widely reported to use a similar level, and Apple Music's Sound Check is widely reported to land near −16 LUFS. These services turn loud masters down, so a louder master doesn't play louder. Pick the level that suits the song, then measure the exported file before you upload it.

The safe default is −14 LUFS integrated and −1 dBTP true peak

If you only remember one setting, make it this one: −14 LUFS integrated, with true peak no higher than −1.0 dBTP. On Spotify's default playback setting, a master at that level plays back at roughly the level you made it. It leaves the drums and vocals enough dynamic range to hit. The 1 dB of peak margin also protects the file when it's converted to the compressed formats that streaming services actually play.

Treat it as a default, though, not a rule. No major platform rejects a song for being louder or quieter than its reference level. They just adjust the playback volume. So the real question isn't "what number does Spotify want?" It's "how dense should this song sound, knowing it will play at about the same level as everything around it?"

Two terms are worth keeping straight:

• Integrated LUFS is the loudness of the whole song. It's measured with a filter weighted toward how we hear, plus gating that ignores silence and very quiet passages (ITU-R BS.1770). Platforms compare this number against their reference.
• True peak (dBTP) is the highest point of the waveform, including peaks that fall between samples. It's usually a little higher than the sample peak your DAW's channel meter shows.

Short-term and momentary loudness help you judge a chorus or a drop, but they don't decide how much a platform turns your song down.

Spotify documents its numbers; most other platforms don't

Spotify is the clearest case. Its Spotify for Artists article on loudness normalization says it adjusts tracks to about −14 LUFS by default, measured with the ITU 1770 standard. In their settings, listeners can pick a Loud level (about −11 LUFS) or a Quiet level (about −19 LUFS), or switch normalization off. Spotify also recommends keeping true peak below −1 dBTP. If your master is louder than −14 LUFS, it recommends going below −2 dBTP, because louder material is more likely to distort when it's encoded.

Most other figures you'll see in mastering forums and plugin manuals come from people measuring playback, not from official specs. Apple, for example, doesn't publish a LUFS number for Sound Check. The −16 figure comes from engineers measuring what they hear.

Checked Nov 2026. Platforms change their playback settings, so check each platform's current documentation before you release.

Normalization turns loud masters down, so louder doesn't mean louder

Normalization is simple arithmetic. The platform measures your song's integrated loudness and turns the volume up or down by the difference between that number and its reference level. On Spotify's default setting, a master at −8 LUFS gets turned down about 6 dB. A master at −14 LUFS stays about where it is.

Here's one song mastered three ways, and what each platform does to it on playback:

After normalization, all three play at roughly the same level, and what's left to hear is the difference in shape. The −7 LUFS master got that loud through hard limiting. Its kick and snare were shaved down so everything else could come up. When it's turned down 7 dB, those flattened transients stay flat, so next to the −14 LUFS master it often sounds smaller, not bigger.

Quiet masters don't get the same treatment as loud ones. Spotify may turn quieter songs up, but its documentation says it only does that as far as the track's peak headroom allows. YouTube is widely reported to turn loud songs down and leave quiet ones alone. That means a −18 LUFS master can sound quieter than the songs around it on some services, which is one more reason −14 is a comfortable middle.

There's one reason loud masters are still around: not all playback is normalized. Listeners who switch normalization off, DJ software, downloads, and some stores and players all play the file exactly as you delivered it. If your music mostly lives in those places, such as club sets, beat stores and DJ pools, a louder master can make sense.

True peak prevents distortion: keep it at or below −1 dBTP

Set your limiter's ceiling to −1.0 dBTP with true-peak detection on. If you master louder than −14 LUFS, go to −2 dBTP. It's the cheapest insurance in mastering, and after normalization it costs you nothing you can hear.

Here's why it matters. Listeners don't stream your WAV. Services convert it to lossy formats such as AAC, Ogg Vorbis or Opus, and that conversion can push peaks slightly above the original. A master with sample peaks at −0.1 dBFS can already have true peaks above 0 dBTP. After encoding, those overshoots can clip into a short, crackly distortion, mostly on snares, cymbals and hard vocal consonants.

Three habits help:

1. Use a limiter with a true-peak (oversampling) mode and set the ceiling to −1.0 dBTP.
2. For masters louder than −14 LUFS, follow Spotify's advice and lower the ceiling to −2 dBTP. Dense masters overshoot more when they're encoded.
3. Measure the exported file, not the session. Sample-rate conversion and dither can move the peaks slightly.

Genre loudness is a style choice, not a platform requirement

Plenty of commercial pop, hip-hop, EDM and rock releases are mastered well above −14 LUFS, and that's not a mistake. In those genres, density is part of the sound. Heavy limiting and saturation make a track feel relentless and forward, even when it plays back at the same level as a gentler master. Acoustic, jazz, classical and ambient music usually goes the other way, because the space between quiet and loud is the performance.

So choose a target the way you'd choose a reverb, for the song in front of you. These are reasonable starting points:

These four levels are the same targets our AI mastering offers: Apple −16, Streaming −14, Loud −11 and Club −9 LUFS, each with a −1.0 dBTP true-peak ceiling. If you'd like to see how a streaming-focused master is set up, the music mastering for Spotify and Apple Music page covers the release side in more detail.

The fair way to choose is to listen at matched loudness. Louder always sounds better for the first few seconds, and that's exactly the trap normalization removes. When you compare versions in Track2Master's AI mastering, the Match loudness switch turns louder versions down to the level of the quietest, so you hear tone and punch instead of volume. The full-length preview is free, so you can try a song at Streaming and then at Loud and decide whether the extra density is worth what it costs.

Measure the exported file before you upload it

Check integrated LUFS and true peak on the exact file you'll deliver. The meters in a mastering session can disagree with the final file after export, dither or conversion, and checking only takes a minute.

1. Export the final master in the format you'll send to your distributor, usually a 24-bit or 16-bit WAV.
2. Open it in our LUFS meter. It runs in your browser, so the file isn't uploaded anywhere.
3. Read integrated LUFS first, then true peak. If true peak is above −1 dBTP, lower the limiter ceiling and export again.
4. Check PLR, the peak-to-loudness ratio (true peak minus integrated loudness). A very low PLR means heavy limiting. If the song sounds flat, back off the limiter.
5. Look at the platform table to see how much Spotify, YouTube, Apple Music and others will turn the song up or down.

If you just need a file at a specific loudness, like a demo for a collaborator, a podcast intro or a reference bounce, you may not need mastering at all. Our audio normalizer sets a file to −14 or −16 LUFS (or podcast and broadcast levels) with a true-peak ceiling. It only adds a safety limiter when the peaks need one, and you download the result as a 24-bit WAV.

For albums and EPs, keep the level differences between songs

Don't force every track on an album to the same LUFS. A ballad mastered to the same integrated loudness as the lead single usually sounds too loud in context. Master the loudest song to your target, then set the others by ear relative to it.

Spotify says it normalizes an album as a whole rather than adjusting each track on its own, so the relative levels you set between songs are kept. A quiet interlude stays quieter than the single next to it, which is what you want.

Common LUFS mistakes to avoid

• Turning up the output after the limiter. Any gain after the final limiter pushes peaks past your ceiling. Change loudness by driving the limiter harder or softer, not with a fader after it.
• Reading the wrong number. Short-term and momentary readings jump around. Integrated is the one platforms use.
• Trusting sample peak alone. A −0.1 dBFS sample peak can still be over 0 dBTP.
• Crushing a quiet song to "compete". On normalized platforms there's nothing to compete with, because the song gets turned down anyway.

Quick answers

Is −14 LUFS too quiet?

No. On Spotify's default setting, a −14 LUFS master plays at the same level as a −8 LUFS master, because the louder one gets turned down. It can seem quiet in your DAW next to commercial songs that haven't been level-matched, or on players that don't normalize.

Will Spotify reject or penalize a loud master?

No. Spotify doesn't reject masters for loudness; it turns them down to its reference level. The only "penalty" is whatever punch you gave up to get loud.

What true peak should I use if I master louder than −14 LUFS?

Spotify recommends keeping true peak below −2 dBTP for masters louder than −14 LUFS. For everything else, −1 dBTP is the usual ceiling.

Does Apple Music normalize to −16 LUFS?

Apple Music's Sound Check is widely reported to play music at around −16 LUFS, but Apple doesn't publish an official figure. Master for the song, and check Apple's current documentation if it matters for your release.

Do I need a separate master for each platform?

Usually not. One master at a sensible level with a −1 dBTP ceiling works across the streaming services. The common exception is a separate, louder club master for DJs.

How do I check the LUFS of a song?

Run the file through a loudness meter that measures to ITU-R BS.1770. Our LUFS meter does this in your browser and shows integrated loudness, true peak, loudness range and how much each platform will turn the song down. If you master with Track2Master, the report also lists output LUFS, true peak and how much limiting was applied, and you can download every version as a 24-bit WAV for 10 credits. See pricing for single-track and monthly options.