Studio credit
Elephant Audio
Audio production · Sound design · Music production
LahorePKEngineering sound since 2018
Loudness and delivery reference
Platform reference
Spotify — Loudness Normalisation
What loudness does Spotify normalise to?
Spotify normalises playback to −14 LUFS using ITU 1770. Listeners can select Loud at −11 LUFS or Quiet at −19 LUFS. Spotify advises keeping true peak below −1 dBTP, and below −2 dBTP for masters louder than the target. This is playback normalisation, not a delivery requirement.
Source
Transcribed from the published standard, read 2026-09-18. Check it yourself
−14 LUFS
Normal
the default playback target
−11 LUFS
Loud setting
limiter engaged at −1 dB
−19 LUFS
Quiet setting
listener-selectable
−1 dBTP
true peak guidance
−2 dBTP for louder masters
This is normalisation, not a delivery specification
Nothing here is a requirement to hand in a file at a particular level. Spotify measures whatever is uploaded and applies gain on the way out so that tracks sit at a comparable loudness for the listener. A master will not be rejected for being louder or quieter than −14 LUFS.
The practical consequence is that loudness gained by compression before upload is given straight back by the platform, while the dynamic range spent to get it is not recoverable. What the listener hears is the damage without the level.
The three listener settings
Most references quote only the first. The playback target is under the listener's control:
- Normal — −14 LUFS. The default.
- Loud — −11 LUFS, with a limiter engaged at −1 dB to prevent clipping.
- Quiet — −19 LUFS.
Turning a quiet track up is not symmetrical with turning a loud one down
Negative gain is straightforward: a track louder than the target is turned down, which adds no distortion and costs nothing.
Positive gain is capped by headroom. Spotify's own example: if a track measures −20 LUFS and its true peak maximum is −5 dBFS, it is lifted only to −16 LUFS — not all the way to −14 — because lifting further would clip. So a quiet master with little headroom does not reach the target at all, and will still play quieter than the tracks around it.
That is the real argument for leaving true-peak headroom on a quiet or dynamic master: it is what allows the platform to bring it up to the house level.
Spotify's own example
“If a track loudness level is -20 dB LUFS, and its True Peak maximum is -5 dB FS, we only lift the track up to -16 dB LUFS”
True peak guidance
Spotify's published mastering advice:
- Keep audio below −1 dBTP for lossy formats.
- For masters louder than the target, keep true peak below −2 dBTP to prevent distortion during encoding.
- Measurement follows the ITU 1770 standard.
The source
Read from Spotify's own artist documentation:
- Spotify for Artists — Loudness normalization— Spotify's published figures. Read 2026-09-18.
Common questions
Should a track be mastered to −14 LUFS for Spotify?
Not as a rule. −14 LUFS is what Spotify normalises playback toward, not a delivery requirement, and a master is never rejected for missing it. What matters more is leaving true-peak headroom: a quiet master with peaks close to full scale cannot be lifted all the way to the target, because Spotify caps positive gain to avoid clipping.
Does the listener's Loud setting undo a careful master?
It changes the target to −11 LUFS and engages a limiter at −1 dB to prevent clipping, so a dynamic master will be limited on playback for listeners who choose it. The setting is theirs, not the artist's, which is an argument for delivering something that survives the range rather than optimising for one of the three.
Is Spotify's −14 LUFS the same number as broadcast's −23 LUFS?
They are the same unit but not comparable requirements. −23 LUFS under EBU R 128 is a delivery specification a file must meet to be accepted. −14 LUFS is what Spotify does to a file after it is uploaded. Neither is louder or quieter than the other in any meaningful sense; they are measuring different things for different purposes.
Next
- Preview what Spotify will do to your master
- Delivery specs versus playback normalisation
- The European broadcast target
- Mastering for streaming release
This page is the lookup. Broadcast and Streaming Loudness Specs for Commercials is the explanation behind it.
Releasing to streaming?
Masters leave here with the true-peak headroom the platforms actually need, and a measurement report for each deliverable rather than one figure for the set.
Last updated: