How loud should my master be for streaming?
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While platforms like Spotify and Apple Music normalize audio to roughly -14 LUFS, you should focus on making your track sound its best rather than hitting a specific numerical target. In competitive modern genres (Pop, EDM, Rock), masters often land between -9 and -12 LUFS to achieve the desired energy, and normalization simply turns them down without damaging the quality.
- 1.Aim for an integrated loudness between -14 LUFS and -10 LUFS for most modern genres.
- 2.Set your True Peak ceiling to -1.0 dBTP to prevent clipping during the lossy encoding process (MP3/AAC conversion) used by streaming platforms.
- 3.Prioritize the 'Dynamic Range' and 'Crest Factor' of your song over a raw loudness number to ensure the transients remain impactful.
- ×Avoid pushing your master to 0.0 dB; this often causes distortion once the file is converted for streaming.
- ×Do not master too quiet (e.g., -20 LUFS), as the platform's 'gain up' processing can introduce unwanted noise or limiting.
Don't sacrifice the punch of your drums just to hit a target number. If your track sounds 'squashed' at -14 LUFS, back off the limiter; the streaming platform's volume normalization will handle the rest.
Based on AI training data — may not reflect current information.
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