What LUFS should you master to for Spotify?

By default, Spotify plays every song at about -14 LUFS integrated and turns louder masters down to match. So you don't need to master louder than that for Spotify: aim near -14 LUFS with true peaks under -1 dBTP, and only go louder if your style truly needs the extra density.

That's the rule. But "just master to -14" is also where many producers go wrong, so let's look at what actually happens to your song after you upload it.

What LUFS means, in one minute

LUFS (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale) measures how loud a song feels to a listener, not just how high its peaks go. Two songs can peak at the same level and feel very different in loudness. LUFS captures that difference.

You'll see three readings on a loudness meter:

• Integrated: the average loudness of the whole song. This is the number streaming services use.
• Short-term: the loudness of the last few seconds. Useful for checking your loudest section.
• True peak (dBTP): the highest point of the waveform, including peaks that appear between samples when the file is converted or encoded.

What Spotify does with your song

Spotify measures each song's integrated loudness and adjusts its playback volume, so listeners don't have to grab the volume knob between songs. Here's how its settings work:

Two details matter:

• Albums keep their shape. When someone plays a full album, Spotify adjusts the whole album by one amount, so your quiet interlude stays quieter than your loud single.
• Listeners can switch it off. Then your song plays at the level you mastered it.

So should you master to exactly -14 LUFS?

Not necessarily. Here's the honest picture.

If you master at -8 LUFS, Spotify turns your song down by about 6 dB. It doesn't get louder than anyone else's, but it keeps the density and character that loud mastering gave it, along with any squashed transients.

If you master at -14 LUFS, Spotify plays it as is. You keep all your punch and dynamics. Next to a louder master turned down to the same level, a dynamic master often sounds punchier, because its drums still have room to hit.

Many released pop, hip hop and electronic masters measure louder than -14, often around -10 to -7 LUFS. That's a sound choice, not a Spotify rule. What matters is this:

1. Don't crush your song to win a loudness race that no longer exists. On Spotify's default setting, the race is over: everyone plays at the same level.
2. Do choose the density your style needs. If your references feel dense and powerful, your master can be louder too. Compare at matched loudness to decide, not by what the meter says.

True peak: the number people forget

When your WAV is turned into a streaming file, the encoding can create peaks slightly higher than the ones in your master. If those go over 0 dB, you get distortion that you never heard in your studio.

Spotify's own advice for artists:

• Keep true peaks below -1 dBTP.
• If your master is louder than -14 LUFS, keep them below -2 dBTP, because loud masters create more of these extra peaks when encoded.

Set your limiter's ceiling with true peak detection on, and check the true peak reading after you export.

Other platforms at a glance

The pattern is the same everywhere: louder masters get turned down. One master usually works for all of them if it stays near -14 to -10 LUFS with clean true peaks.

Mastering for club play? The streaming number matters much less

Everything above is about streaming. If your track is made to be played on club sound systems, -14 LUFS is not your target.

Streaming services turn loud songs down. A club system doesn't: it plays your file at the level you mastered it, next to tracks that are already loud. A master at -14 LUFS sounds small and quiet there, and whoever plays it has to push it up to keep the room's energy.

That's why club masters are usually much louder, often around -8 to -6 LUFS integrated. Two things to keep in mind:

• Make two masters if you release in both places. A loud one for club play, and one for streaming that you've checked at matched loudness.
• Louder still costs punch. The harder you push, the more your drums flatten. Compare with a club track you love at the same loudness to find how far to go.

A simple workflow for your next master

1. Pick a reference in your style and measure its integrated loudness. Our guide on using reference tracks shows how.
2. Master until it feels as dense as the reference when both play at the same loudness. That tells you the sound your style needs.
3. Read your integrated LUFS. If you're far louder than -14, ask: does the extra loudness sound better at matched level, or only louder?
4. Check true peak after export: under -1 dBTP, or under -2 dBTP for loud masters.
5. Listen to the turned-down version. Drop your master by the difference between its LUFS and -14, and compare it with your reference at the same level. If it still holds up, you're done.

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The real lesson behind the number

Loudness targets are a delivery spec. They don't make a song sound professional. A master at a perfect -14 LUFS can still sound thin, muddy or flat.

What makes a master hold up at any level is a mix with good frequency balance, controlled dynamics and a clear stereo image. If yours sounds cloudy once it's loud, start with why a mix sounds muddy: mud only gets worse as you push the level up.