Mix & Master
LUFS Targets by Platform
Where every major platform normalizes loudness, and the true-peak ceiling that keeps your master from clipping after transcoding.
| Platform | Target (LUFS-I) | True peak (dBTP) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spotify | -14 | -1.0 | Loud setting normalizes to −11; quiet to −19. Tracks louder than −14 are turned down, not clipped. |
| Apple Music | -16 | -1.0 | Sound Check on by default on iOS. Slightly quieter target than most platforms. |
| YouTube | -14 | -1.0 | Turns loud content down, never up, so quiet masters stay quiet. |
| Tidal | -14 | -1.0 | Album normalization mode preserves relative track loudness across a release. |
| Amazon Music | -14 | -2.0 | More conservative true-peak headroom than the others. |
| Deezer | -15 | -1.0 | Sits between Apple and the −14 crowd. |
| SoundCloud | — | -1.0 | No loudness normalization, so louder masters genuinely play louder here. Master accordingly if SoundCloud is your primary channel. |
| Club / DJ play | -8 to -6 (short-term) | -0.5 | No normalization on a CDJ. Competitive club masters run hot; dynamics live in the arrangement, not the meter. |
Platform specs change without notice. These are the widely cited targets as of early 2026; verify against each platform's current documentation before a release.
Based on each streaming platform's published loudness normalization specs, cross-referenced across current mastering-engineer guidance. · Methodology
The math
LUFS-I = integrated loudness over the full track · dBTP = inter-sample true peak, not sample peak
LUFS measures perceived loudness the way ears do, weighted toward the frequencies we're sensitive to and averaged across the whole track. True peak matters because lossy encoding (AAC, Ogg) reconstructs the waveform between samples: a master that touches 0 dBFS in samples can exceed 0 between them after encoding, which is why platforms ask for −1 dBTP of headroom.
In practice
The trap is mastering *to* −14 LUFS because "that's the Spotify number." Normalization only turns loud masters down; it doesn't punish them. A dense club track will naturally land around −8 to −6 LUFS, get turned down on streaming, and still sound right, because turning down preserves the density you built. What actually costs you is a limiter squashing transients to chase a number. Master for the genre, keep true peak at −1 dBTP, and let the platforms do the leveling.
One real exception: if SoundCloud or club play is your primary channel, loudness genuinely competes there, because no normalization means quiet masters simply sound weaker next to everyone else's.