How Many LUFS Should My Master Be? A Clear Guide
If you’ve been learning how to master your own music, you’ve almost certainly come across the terms “LUFS”, and read plenty of opinions on the best LUFS for mastering.
LUFS is a measure of loudness – we’ll dive into more detail on how they’re measured later in this article – and mastering engineers will often use a loudness meter to keep an eye on how loud their masters are as they’re working on them.
In this guide, we'll break down everything you need to know about LUFS, explain why loudness targets matter in modern mastering, and give you practical guidance on achieving the right loudness for your music – without sacrificing the dynamics and musicality that make your tracks shine. We’ll also bust some myths around mastering for streaming platforms like Apple Music and Spotify.
Quick Answer - What LUFS Should I Master To?
You should master your track to the loudness that sounds best given the song and the genre you’re working in. Typically a balanced range of between -10 and -14 LUFS integrated is a safe bet.
Lighter music such as jazz or classical should sit more around -20 LUFS integrated, in principle.
Streaming services will normalize your music to a certain loudness (Spotify normalises to -14 LUFS integrated, for example). You can use this as a guideline, but you don’t need to think of it as a target.
What Is LUFS?
LUFS stands for Loudness Units relative to Full Scale. Simply put, LUFS is a measure of perceived loudness (how loud something seems to our ears) over a certain time period.
LUFS show how loud a file is relative to the ceiling of 0dBFS (decibels Full Scale), so they’re always shown as a negative number. This means a -15 LUFS reading is quieter than a -10 LUFS reading.
LUFS can be measured over a range of lengths of time.
- Momentary loudness is measured over a very short time of around 400 milliseconds.
- Short term loudness measures perceived loudness over a longer period of around three seconds, giving a better idea of how loud a particular phrase or section is. This can be useful for comparing the loudness of verses and choruses, for example.
- Integrated loudness is the perceived loudness of an entire audio file. This gives you an idea of the loudness of a full song, and is the measurement used by streaming platforms. In fact, when you hear pros refer to LUFS, they’re most likely talking about integrated loudness.
LUFS measurements mimic how audio is perceived by human ears by applying a frequency weighting, prioritising mid and high frequencies over low. Because of this, and the fact that LUFS are measured over time, a track with louder peaks can have a lower LUFS value than one with quieter peaks, depending on the tonal balance of the track, and the volume of the piece over its entire length.
Why Loudness Targets Matter in Mastering
Aiming for a loudness target when mastering means you know your track will sound loud enough when listeners play it. Loudness has a big impact on how we perceive music. It’s a complicated topic, but generally, the louder music sounds the more we enjoy it. You can learn more about this in our documentary How Music Got Loud.
Loudness targets are now more important than ever in the age of streaming, more on that later.
How Many LUFS Should a Master Be?
We’d love to give a hard and fast rule to the question “what is a good LUFS level for mastering?”, but the truth is there’s no magic number to aim for. The optimum LUFS for your master depends on a whole host of factors like genre, dynamic range, intended listening medium and the sonic character you’re trying to achieve.
That said, a safe target range for most modern music falls between -10 and -14 LUFS integrated. This range gives you enough loudness to compete with commercial releases while preserving the dynamics and punch that make your music engaging to listen to.
You may have read or watched guides online that claim you should always aim for -14 LUFS to help your music stand out on streaming services. While it’s true that streaming platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube normalize music to -14 LUFS, this doesn’t necessarily mean you need to be hitting this value when mastering your music. It helps to be close to this value, but it’s not a golden rule. If your master is quieter, streaming platforms will turn it up anyway.
Louder isn’t Always Better
Music that’s louder than -14 LUFS will be turned down by streaming platforms – so there’s no point pushing the loudness of your masters to the max. This is one of the positive things to come out of the advent of streaming. Throughout the 90s and 00s, mastering engineers were locked in the “Loudness Wars”, all trying to eke out every last bit of loudness from track – but this came at a cost.
Louder tracks have less dynamic range, and tend to have less punchy transients which generally reduces the musicality of tracks, and can make them sound lifeless.
Genre is Key
As touched on already, the genre of your music will affect how loud your master should (and can) be.
Pop, hip-hop, and EDM tracks often sit comfortably in the -8 to -10 LUFS range because these genres typically have controlled dynamics and benefit from consistent energy. On the other hand, genres like classical, jazz, or acoustic singer-songwriter material naturally have wider dynamic ranges, and forcing them to hit -14 LUFS would mean destroying what makes them special. These tracks might land anywhere from -16 to -20 LUFS or even lower, and that's perfectly fine.
Mix with your Ears
The availability of incredible plugins make it easy to fall into the trap of mixing with your eyes, not your ears. But this can be a dangerous habit that can ultimately limit your skill development.
By all means, use loudness meters and have a rough idea of what LUFS range you’re aiming for, but ultimately you should make mastering decisions based on how your music sounds.
How Loud Should My Master Be for Streaming Platforms?
Though you don’t need to master your music to a specific loudness for streaming, platforms will normalize your music to a certain LUFS level, so it’s worth bearing this in mind.
Spotify
The official guidance from Spotify for mastering for their platform is:
- Target an integrated loudness level of -14dB LUFS for your master.
- Keep your True Peak below -1dB maximum. This is crucial for lossy formats like Ogg/Vorbis and AAC, preventing distortion during the transcoding process that streaming services use.
- If your master pushes beyond -14 LUFS integrated, you'll need to keep True Peak below -2dB instead. Hotter tracks are more prone to distortion when encoded for streaming, so this extra headroom protects your sound quality.
Apple Music
Apple Music has similar guidance to Spotify. It’ll normalize your music to -14 LUFS.
YouTube
Like Spotify and Apple Music, YouTube will normalize your music to -14dB LUFS.
When LUFS Guidelines Shouldn’t Dictate Your Master
LUFS are a useful measurement to reference when mastering your music, but you shouldn’t treat them as a target, or as a measure of a good or bad master.
The priority when mastering is always to achieve a musical sounding master. If your track has a large dynamic range, you should respect this and not squash it in pursuit of a target loudness value.
Some genres, like classical and jazz for example, naturally have a greater dynamic range than pop, hip-hop or rock. So, if you’re working in these genres, you may struggle to hit -14 LUFS.
As with most things in the world of music, the key is to use your ears. Yes, it’s useful to know how loud your track is, but it’s not the be all and end all.
Best LUFS Meter Plugin to Guide Your Master
Your DAW may come with a LUFS meter (or loudness meter) which can come in handy. However, it may be limited in its functionality, and some DAWs, like Ableton Live, don’t come with a loudness meter at all.
A quality LUFS meter plugin will set you up for accurate loudness readings no matter your DAW of choice. WLM Plus is a feature-rich loudness meter that will help you achieve optimum loudness, no matter the type of audio you’re working on.
It’s great for music of all genres, but it also excels when used on podcasts, video projects and more.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What’s the Difference Between Integrated and Short-Term LUFS?
Integrated LUFS measure the perceived loudness of an entire audio file, while Short-Term LUFS are measured over a period of around three seconds.
Integrated LUFS are what streaming platforms use to measure loudness, and 99 times out of 100, what people mean when they refer to mastering LUFS.
Short-term LUFS are handy for measuring phrases or sections of a track, but don’t give you the overall picture of an entire track’s loudness.
Why Do Streaming Platforms Normalize Loudness?
Streaming platforms normalize the loudness of tracks so that their users have a seamless listening experience. By automatically matching the loudness of tracks, listeners never have to adjust the volume of their device when listening to a playlist or automatically generated radio station.
Do Dynamic Songs Require Lower LUFS Levels?
Generally speaking, yes. If a song has a large dynamic range, by definition there will be quieter parts and louder parts. The quieter moments in the track will bring down the integrated LUFS measurement of the song, giving it a lower LUFS level than a track with more consistent dynamics throughout.
How Accurate Are LUFS Meters in Different DAWs?
LUFS meters in different DAWs are all very accurate. If you’re getting different readings, make sure you’ve got them configured to the same loudness standard.
Conclusion
Mastering to the right loudness levels is all about finding that sweet spot between competing on streaming and radio, while maintaining musicality and remaining true to the genre of music you’re working within. While streaming platforms normalize to -14 LUFS, this doesn't mean you need to hit that exact target. Focus on what sounds best for your track, use LUFS meters as helpful reference tools rather than strict rules, and always trust your ears above everything else. Remember, a master that breathes and retains its dynamic character will almost always sound more engaging than one crushed in pursuit of maximum loudness.
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