LUFS Calculator: How Loud Will Your Master Play on Spotify?
Enter the integrated loudness and true peak of your master. See how much each streaming service turns it down or up, the level it actually plays at, and whether your peaks are safe.
| Platform | Target | Playback change | Plays at |
|---|
Spotify's values come from Spotify for Artists. The other services don't all publish exact figures; their values are the commonly reported ones and can change. Normalisation is on by default on most services but listeners can turn it off.
Streaming loudness targets
| Platform | Normalises to | Turns quiet tracks up? | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spotify | -14 LUFS | Yes, within peak headroom | Spotify for Artists |
| Apple Music | -16 LUFS | Yes, within peak headroom | Commonly reported |
| YouTube | -14 LUFS | No, turns loud tracks down only | Commonly reported |
| Tidal | -14 LUFS | No, turns loud tracks down only | Commonly reported |
| Amazon Music | -14 LUFS | No, turns loud tracks down only | Commonly reported |
| Deezer | -15 LUFS | No, turns loud tracks down only | Commonly reported |
What this means for your master
- Louder isn't louder on streaming. A −8 LUFS master is turned down about 6 dB on Spotify and plays at the same loudness as a −14 LUFS master. Extra limiting only costs punch.
- Too quiet can cost you too. Services that only turn tracks down leave a quiet master quiet, and services that turn tracks up stop when the peaks reach the limit.
- Watch the true peak. Keep it at −1 dBTP or lower, and −2 dBTP for loud masters, so the lossy encoding doesn't clip.
- Judge the master at matched loudness. Compare your track with references after turning both to −14 LUFS. That is how most listeners will hear them.
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Quick answers
What LUFS should I master to for Spotify?
Spotify plays music at −14 LUFS by default (−11 on the Loud setting, −19 on Quiet), so a louder master is turned down to −14 and a quieter one turned up if there is peak headroom. There is no penalty for mastering louder, but it is no louder for the listener. Spotify recommends keeping true peaks below −1 dBTP, or below −2 dBTP for masters louder than −14 LUFS.
What is LUFS?
Loudness Units relative to Full Scale: a loudness measurement that follows how loud music sounds to the ear rather than how high the peaks are. Integrated LUFS is the average over the whole track, and it is the value streaming services normalise to.
Does Spotify turn quiet songs up?
Yes. According to Spotify, positive gain is applied to softer masters so they reach −14 LUFS, while keeping 1 dB of headroom for the lossy encoding. A very dynamic master with high peaks can therefore end up a little below −14 LUFS.
What is true peak and why −1 dBTP?
True peak estimates the real peak level between samples, which can be higher than the sample peaks your meter shows. When a track is converted to a lossy format such as Ogg or AAC, peaks close to 0 dB can clip. A ceiling of −1 dBTP (−2 dBTP for loud masters) avoids that.
Should I master to −14 LUFS?
Not necessarily. Many genres are mastered louder for their sound and density, and normalisation simply turns them down. What matters is that the master sounds good at the level it is played back at, without unnecessary limiting.