How loud should you master?
It's the question every producer asks when a track is nearly done, and most answers give you a single number. The honest answer is a range plus one rule: on streaming services the loudness number matters much less than you think, and the density of the master and its peaks after encoding matter much more.
- Streaming (Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Tidal, Amazon, SoundCloud): anywhere from about −14 to −9 LUFS integrated is fine. Choose the density you like, around a PLR of 9 to 11 for punchy, competitive music, and keep the peaks at or under −1 dBTP after encoding. With peaks at −1 dBTP, a PLR of 9 to 11 lands at about −10 to −12 LUFS.
- Don't master quieter than about −14 unless you want a quiet, open sound on purpose. Several services never turn quiet tracks up.
- Club and DJ sets: nothing normalises there, so louder masters play louder. −9 to −7 LUFS is typical, with peaks around −0.3 to −1 dBTP.
What each platform does with your track
Most services measure every track's loudness and turn it up or down so songs play at about the same level. This is loudness normalisation. Only Spotify and SoundCloud publish their numbers; the rest are measured by engineers from playback and can change without notice.
| Platform | Plays at | Turns quiet tracks up? | Peak advice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spotify | −14 LUFS | Yes, but only as far as the peaks allow, keeping 1 dB of headroom. Premium listeners can choose Loud (−11) or Quiet (−19). | Under −1 dBTP (Spotify's own advice) |
| Apple Music | about −16 LUFS | Reports differ | Under −1 dBTP; AAC overshoots a little more than most |
| YouTube | about −14 LUFS | No: loud tracks are turned down, quiet ones stay quiet | Under −1 dBTP after Opus |
| Tidal | about −14 LUFS | No, and it normalises whole albums together | Under −1 dBTP |
| Amazon Music | about −14 LUFS | Reported as no | Under −1 dBTP; some engineers leave −2 |
| Deezer | about −15 LUFS | Not published | Under −1 dBTP |
| SoundCloud | about −14 LUFS | Not published | Under −1 dBTP, or −2 dBTP for masters louder than −14 (SoundCloud's own advice) |
| Bandcamp, downloads, DJ software | no change | No: files play as you made them | −0.3 to −1 dBTP |
Checked October 2026. Spotify's figures are from its loudness normalisation guide and SoundCloud's from its help centre; the others are widely reported measurements. Listeners can also switch normalisation off on most services.
Why "−14 LUFS" isn't a target
−14 is where Spotify, YouTube and Tidal play your track, not a level you have to master to. Take two masters of the same song:
| Master | File | On Spotify | What you hear |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | −14 LUFS, PLR 13 | plays as is | Open, with big drum hits |
| B | −10 LUFS, PLR 9 | turned down 4 dB | Fuller and denser, at the same loudness as A |
Both play at −14, so neither is "louder" on Spotify. They sound different because of their density: B's peaks sit closer to its average level, so it feels fuller; A keeps more punch and space. Neither is wrong. That's why the better question is how dense should my master be, which you can choose by ear and with a reference track. The Density and PLR chapter goes into how to choose.
Mastering much louder than about −9 LUFS for streaming usually costs you: the service turns it down to −14 anyway, and what's left is the side effect of the heavy limiting, which is flatter drums and less space.
Why does my song sound quieter than others on Spotify?
If a track sounds smaller or quieter than the songs around it on a playlist, it's almost always one of these:
- It's quieter than −14 and its peaks are already near the top. Spotify only turns a quiet track up until its peaks reach −1 dBTP. A master at −18 LUFS with peaks at −1 dBTP can't be turned up at all, so it plays 4 dB quieter than everything else. On YouTube, Tidal and Amazon, quiet tracks are never turned up. The fix is more density: limit a little harder so the loudness comes up while the peaks stay put.
- It's at −14 but much less dense than the genre. At the same loudness, a very open master (PLR 13 or more) can sound smaller next to dense, competitive releases. If that's not the sound you want, aim for a PLR closer to the references you love.
- Too much low end. A huge sub uses up a lot of the peak level but adds little to the measured loudness, so the limiter has to turn the whole mix down to make room for it. See The low end.
- It was mastered so loud it got squashed. At −6 LUFS it's turned down 8 dB, and what's left is a flat, distorted version of the song. Dial the limiting back.
A good starting point by style
| Music | Typical PLR | Typical loudness |
|---|---|---|
| EDM, club, heavy rock and metal | 5 to 8 dB | −9 to −6 LUFS |
| Pop, hip-hop, dance, rock | 8 to 11 dB | −12 to −9 LUFS |
| Singer-songwriter, R&B, indie | 10 to 12 dB | −13 to −11 LUFS |
| Acoustic, jazz, classical | 12 dB or more | −18 to −13 LUFS |
Ranges are typical of released music, not rules. Genres overlap, and the best guide is a reference track you like, compared at matched loudness.
Loudness and PLR are linked through the peak level: loudness ≈ true peak − PLR. With peaks at −1 dBTP, a PLR of 10 gives about −11 LUFS. That's why picking the density and the ceiling settles the loudness for you.
Don't forget the peaks
Whatever loudness you choose, keep the true peak at or under −1 dBTP. Streaming services convert your file to Opus, Ogg Vorbis, AAC or MP3, and those encoders push peaks up, often by 1 to 2 dB on loud, bright masters. If they go over full scale, the listener hears distortion that isn't in your file. Louder masters need more room, which is why SoundCloud asks for −2 dBTP above −14 LUFS. The Peaks chapter explains true peak and the codec peak, the peak after encoding, which is the one that really matters.
Check yours in a minute
Drop your master on MasterScope: it measures the loudness, PLR, true peak and codec peak in your browser, and the Release ready panel gives a pass or fix for Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, SoundCloud and the club, with the reason for each. In your DAW, Liminal can learn straight to a density: choose PLR 10, press Learn, play the song once, and it sets itself so the peaks stay under −1 dB after real streaming encoders.