Enter your master's integrated LUFS and see exactly how many dB Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Tidal, and Amazon Music will turn it down. Know before you submit.
| Platform | Target | Penalty | Status | Mode |
|---|
Every major streaming platform measures your track's loudness and adjusts its playback volume automatically. The target varies by platform — Spotify uses –14 LUFS integrated, YouTube uses –14 LUFS, Apple Music targets –16 LUFS, Tidal targets –14 LUFS, and Amazon Music applies –9 LUFS normalization. If your master is louder than the target, the platform turns it down by exactly the difference. That reduction is called the loudness penalty.
The loudness war assumption — "louder = better" — collapses entirely once you understand this. A master at –8 LUFS will be turned down by 6 dB on Spotify. That means your intentionally brick-walled, dynamically crushed master is reaching listeners at the same perceived volume as a well-mastered –14 LUFS track — but with a fraction of the dynamics and headroom.
For most modern music, –14 LUFS integrated hits the Spotify and YouTube target with zero penalty. Apple Music applies –2 dB of reduction at this level, which is acceptable. The practical range for streaming-optimized masters is –13 to –16 LUFS, depending on genre and dynamic content. Below –14, you start leaving playback energy on the table. Above –11, the penalty starts compounding across platforms with no perceptual benefit.
Not all content benefits from hitting the exact normalization target. Club and DJ tools — music destined for a venue system, not a streaming session — may legitimately master hotter because the playback system isn't normalized. Sync placement considerations differ. And certain genres (hyperpop, some EDM subgenres) have aesthetic compression that's part of the sound, not a mistake. This calculator shows you the actual penalty so you can make an informed decision — not a default one.
Spotify applies loudness normalization to all tracks by default. The target is –14 LUFS integrated. On "Quiet" mode, the target drops to –19 LUFS. Tracks quieter than the target are not boosted — Spotify only turns down, never up. If your track measures at –11 LUFS, Spotify applies –3 dB of gain reduction before it reaches the listener's ears.
Apple Music's Sound Check feature targets –16 LUFS. Users can disable Sound Check, which means a percentage of Apple Music listeners hear un-normalized audio. For mastering decisions, assume normalization is active. At –14 LUFS, you receive a –2 dB penalty on Apple Music — acceptable. At –10 LUFS, that penalty is –6 dB.
YouTube applies loudness normalization to all uploads. The target is –14 LUFS integrated with a –1 dBTP true peak limit. Critically, YouTube does not boost quiet content — it only attenuates loud content. For music videos and audio-only uploads, –14 LUFS with headroom for true peak compliance is the correct target.
Tidal targets –14 LUFS integrated. Masters for Tidal can be identical to Spotify masters without any additional processing required.
Amazon Music applies a more aggressive loudness ceiling at –9 LUFS. This means masters between –14 and –9 LUFS receive no penalty on Amazon. Only masters louder than –9 LUFS are attenuated. For most streaming-optimized masters, Amazon Music will apply no reduction at all — it's the most permissive major platform.
Go deeper on mastering for streaming: LUFS — The Producer's Bible · Mastering — The Producer's Bible · LUFS Target Reference Tool · Headroom Calculator