What LUFS should my song be for Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube?
The short answer: about −14 LUFS for Spotify and YouTube, −16 for Apple Music and podcasts, with peaks under −1 dBTP. Here's the full table, what the numbers mean, and when it's fine to ignore them.
The targets
| Where it's going | Loudness | Peaks |
|---|---|---|
| Spotify | −14 LUFS | −1 dBTP (−2 if you master louder than −14) |
| Apple Music | −16 LUFS | −1 dBTP |
| YouTube | −14 LUFS | −1 dBTP |
| Amazon Music | about −14 LUFS | −1 dBTP |
| Tidal | −14 LUFS | −1 dBTP |
| Deezer | −15 LUFS | −1 dBTP |
| Podcasts (Apple, Spotify) | −16 LUFS (mono −19) | −1 dBTP |
| Audiobooks (ACX / Audible) | RMS −23 to −18 dB | −3 dB peak, noise floor below −60 dB |
| Broadcast, Europe (EBU R128) | −23 LUFS | −1 dBTP |
| Broadcast, US (ATSC A/85) | −24 LKFS | −2 dBTP |
Platforms adjust these from time to time; check their own guidance before an important release. Values as of October 2026.
What LUFS means
LUFS (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale) measures how loud a recording sounds to people, not just how high its peaks go. It weighs frequencies the way our ears do and averages over time. The number platforms care about is integrated loudness: the average over the whole track. It's defined in the standard ITU-R BS.1770, and one LU is the same as one decibel.
True peak (dBTP) is the highest point the waveform reaches once it's turned back into sound, including the peaks that fall between samples. Streaming services convert your file to formats like AAC or Ogg, and that conversion can push peaks a little higher. Keeping true peaks at −1 dBTP or lower leaves room so it doesn't distort.
What the platforms actually do
Most services normalize: they measure every track and play it back at their target. If your song is louder than −14 LUFS, Spotify and YouTube turn it down. If it's quieter, Spotify turns it up only as far as its peaks allow, and YouTube doesn't turn it up at all. So a master that's too quiet can sound weaker next to other songs, and one that's very loud gets turned down anyway.
Should I master louder than −14?
You can. Many pop, rock and electronic records are mastered around −9 to −7 LUFS because of the sound that heavy limiting gives. They'll be turned down to −14, and that's fine if you like how they sound. The cost is dynamics: a squashed master turned down sounds flatter than a dynamic one at the same volume.
For acoustic music, piano, classical, jazz, singer-songwriter, spoken word and podcasts, landing near the target is usually the better choice. The quiet and loud moments keep their contrast, and nothing is turned down.
The most important thing comes before the number: the performance should sit evenly, so the quiet lines are heard and the loud ones don't jump out. Loudness normalization only moves the whole track up or down; it doesn't fix uneven parts. See how to make the quiet parts louder without squashing them.
How to measure and hit the target
- Your DAW's meter. Logic Pro has a Loudness Meter plug-in; Reaper, Cubase, Studio One and others show LUFS too.
- A free meter plug-in. Youlean Loudness Meter has a free version that shows integrated LUFS and true peak.
- Gain Curve. Pick the platform and press Make it ready: it measures the whole file, sets the level, and keeps peaks under the ceiling with a true-peak limiter, then tells you in plain words if it's ready. Try it free for 14 days.
Measure the whole song from start to finish, not just the loudest part: integrated loudness is an average, and short quiet intros or outros pull it down a little.
Paul Voia-Tipei, PVT Studio · October 2026