LUFS for Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube

Streaming services play every song at roughly the same loudness. They measure it in LUFS and turn loud tracks down. Here is the level each service normalizes to, what that means for your master, and how to check your own track.

Loudness levels by service

Service	Normalizes to	Notes
Spotify	−14 LUFS	Default setting. Listeners can choose Loud (−11) or Quiet (−19).
Apple Music	−16 LUFS	Sound Check, on by default.
YouTube	−14 LUFS	Louder videos are turned down; quieter ones are not turned up.
Tidal	−14 LUFS
Amazon Music	−14 LUFS
Deezer	−15 LUFS
SoundCloud	No normalization	Tracks play at the level they are uploaded.

Services change these settings from time to time, so check their own documentation before a release.

Measure your track's LUFS and true peak →Free, in your browser, nothing uploaded. With a checklist for mastering.

What normalization means for your master

If your master is at −8 LUFS, Spotify turns it down by about 6 dB to play it at −14. It does not get any louder than the other tracks, but if it was squashed to get there, it keeps the squashing. A master at −14 with more dynamics plays at the same level and often sounds bigger.

That does not mean every master should be −14. Club tracks are often mastered louder for DJs, and that is fine. The point is that loudness alone wins nothing on streaming.

True peak

Lossy formats like Ogg and AAC can create peaks above the original. Spotify recommends keeping the true peak below −1 dBTP, and below −2 dBTP if the master is louder than −14 LUFS. A true peak limiter on the master handles this.

Check your own track

Drop it into our mix analyzer: it measures integrated LUFS, short-term loudness, true peak and loudness range in your browser, and shows how much a service would turn your track down.

Get it mastered for streaming and clubs →Our engineer masters your track with the right loudness for where it is going.

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Questions

What LUFS should I master to for Spotify?

Spotify plays tracks at −14 LUFS by default, so anything louder is turned down. Many masters are louder than that, especially for clubs. If you master around −14, keep the true peak below −1 dBTP.

Is −14 LUFS too quiet?

Not on streaming, where every track is played at about the same level. For DJ use and clubs, louder masters are common.

Does Apple Music use −14 LUFS?

No, Apple Music normalizes to −16 LUFS with Sound Check.

What is the difference between LUFS and dB?

dB peak meters show the highest point of the signal. LUFS measures loudness the way the ear hears it, over time, which is why streaming services use it.