LUFS Explained – SIMPLE! (Mastering for Spotify)

LUFS levels explained in 7 minutes! Learn how to master your music for Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and Tidal using LUFS.

In this video I explain what “LUFS” metering is, and how to use it to master your music. I also give an example of mastering a piece of music for Spotify and for CD using LUFS.

Whether you are mastering for streaming services or download or CD, your LUFS levels should be optimised.

The LUFS levels required for Spotify and most streaming platforms is -14LUFS, whereas the LUFS level you might want to hit for printing to CD / Vinyl / Download sites will depend on the genre of music you are making.

►► My ENTIRE Music and Video Equipment:
My Audio Gear:

My Video Gear:

….AND SAY HI ON THE SOCIALS, BRAH:

Cheers, and happy producing!
Will

OTHER VIDEOS TO CHECK OUT:

#LUFS #mastering #metering

[EDMTips]

Does this explains things clearly!? Let me know in the comments! 🤔

[jakphoto]

This LUFS targeting with different masters for different platforms is, sorry to say, bull. If you send the loudest master everywhere, you're done. You don't send a different master to each service. I listen to YouTube Music. I've heard plenty of fresh releases reading -7 to -5. You think they sent a quieter master to Spotify? Hell no. A single file went to the distribution services and any changes in volume were made on an automated, individual basis by those platforms. Please stop propagating this nonsense!

[pushtoenter]

When I analyze different Tracks downloaded from Beatport. Then they are all mastered as loud as possible. with Peaks up to +1.6 dB als integreted LUFS -9 up to -6 dB. In my opinion, the louder the better is still true.

[starlingsplanettv]

Great video, concise and informative and no nonsense. Many Thanks

[LinkSquish]

I really like Wave Hammer in Sound Forge software.

[vutib]

Thanks a lot for this clear explanation. The loudness war is quite a mess ! ;)

[abyssent]

are all my samples in splice overdistorted or something ? i realized i was having very quiet mixes when i bounced out my files so i decided to do some loudness metering, and come to find all my kick samples are eating up so much space in the mix . a kick playing by itself soleley at -3 db un eq'd is topping out at around -9 to -10 lufs . . thats already -4 to -5 lufs of negative gain that spotify is lowering my finished mix to JUST from kick alone . how can i fix this without butchering my kick samples or is it something i just have to deal w weaker kicks to have a good sounding mix overall . this topic is so confusing

[philtrickey]

Really helpful video thank you. Quick question though... you measured LUFS when looping the loudest part of the track. Do Spotify measure the average LUFS value across the whole track or just the loudest part? Many thanks.

[TheWeazel]

So how come there is still difference when volume normalization on Spotify is enabled? Justin Bieber is -12LUFS (Original master at -7 LUFS, not -14 so really loud), some other songs I checked -15 LUFS? This means the Bieber track will sound louder than if you master specifically for Spotify. I have to say it's a bit of a mystery. In theory I completely understand it, but in the real world it turns out there's still quite a difference.

[fwqfqwqfqwf]

how about lufs-I and lufs-S in logic pro analyzer

[davidepiccol]

you didn't explain the definition of the average volume. what is it? root mean square of the signal?

[luv]

hey. what is the deal w/ loudness range?

[Gettin_chunky]

RMS is the average overtime LUFS is in reference to how loud it actually sounds. For instants a high pitch sound will come across as louder than a sub base even at the same DB

[oldskoolfunkandsoul]

This the best most straightforward video tutorial on this topic yet on YouTube. Great job and thanks again. 👍 😎

[viktoroolen]

You should use the Spotify Preset on Youlean, the True Peak Max is set to -1. You are not giving at least -1 one of space in any example. Decreasing the Output on FabFilte Pro-L 2 to -1 or a little bit more (-1.12) will solve the space issue.

[novadeviator]

pretty cool and simple. two thoughts:
- intergrated loudness for spotify (and other streaming services) should be measured for the whole track, not just the loudest section - you are looping the loudest section and the meter comes up with -13LUFS, but the whole track does have lower intergrated LUFS and that will be used by the streaming service.
- volume adjustment by streaming services is applied at playtime - they (usually) don't change (normalize) the uploaded track - check it out - there's difference when you play music on youtube or if you download the file back from it. the uploaded file is not changed.

[ddutchofficial]

This brings up a dilemma. I use a service that distributes to all platforms at once. But i can only upload one audio file.. so what is the best way to do that?

[christhescientist]

This is by far the simplest and most understandable tutorial on this topic on YouTube. Every other one I've watched hasn't explained it simply enough, or glosses over key information. If anyone questions me about LUFs again I will point them towards your tutorial. Brilliant job man

[DenisAshton]

Thank you for this. It actually makes sense! Also: To anyone reading: With my recent release, I realized just HOW EXTREME the normalization algorithms of platforms are. The MORE LOUD AND IN YOUR FACE I tried to make the gain, the quieter the song sounded on YouTube and other platforms. It sounded EPIC AF when listening to my master WAV file, but of course because of the fact that I made it so loud, (average volume, high LUFS) streaming platforms (including YouTube) made it sound quieter. And even squashed in terms of quality in my opinion. So it's a very counterintuitive process. The louder you try to make your average volume (especially with the gain on your master limiter, etc) the quieter it can sound on platforms. I don't mind the loudness wars. I HATE that audio gets normalized on platforms. BUT I should have conformed instead of rebelled. If I were playing the song at a club, I woulda been fine. But you can always rely on streaming platforms to screw you. THAT BEING If I were a jazz musician and WANTED dynamics and an overall quiet feel, I might also be pissed off that streaming platforms made it LOUDER. I already knew I was gonna be a victim to normalization, but I didn't know how extreme until I released my song, and then a remastered version. I regret nothing. But I hope that this prevents whoever is reading this from making the same mistake, or at LEAST be aware of the consequences of loudness rebellion when it comes to streaming platforms. Like I said, if you're trying to make a song super dynamic or quiet on purpose, it might affect you the opposite way and become louder instead. The loudness wars are over, but at what cost? Conformity? It is what it is. The most important thing, however, is for the music itself to sound good (: And a great mix is the best way to get to a great master. But my mastering process really caused me to shoot myself in the foot. God bless, and best wishes! Thanks again for the video!

[DenisAshton]

ALSO! im planning on starting to upload my releases privately on youtube before releasing a public version on youtube, and even before submitting my songs to my distributor from now on. to see how the typical algorithms normalize the sound. thought someone else might find this helpful by adding this to their standard practice from now on.