What LUFS should I master at? Loudness targets by genre
By Sontra Music ·
There's no single right number. The loudness that suits your master depends on your genre, and streaming platforms will adjust playback volume anyway. Here's what the numbers mean and where to aim.
What LUFS means
LUFS (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale) measures how loud a track sounds to people, averaged over the whole song. Integrated LUFS is the single number for the full track. Numbers closer to zero are louder: −8 LUFS is louder than −14 LUFS.
What true peak means
True peak (dBTP) is the highest point the audio waveform reaches once it's converted back to analog or encoded to a streaming format. A master can read below 0 dB in your DAW and still go over after conversion, which causes distortion. Keeping true peak below −1 dBTP leaves room for that.
Why streaming normalizes loudness
Streaming services adjust playback so songs play at a similar volume. If your master is louder than their reference, they turn it down. If it's quieter, some platforms turn it up, within limits. By default:
- Spotify: about −14 LUFS
- Apple Music: about −16 LUFS
- YouTube: about −14 LUFS
Platforms can change these values, and listeners can turn normalization off. So making your master much louder won't make it louder on streaming. It usually just costs you dynamics.
Loudness ranges by genre
These are the same typical ranges Track Report compares your master against.
| Genre | Typical integrated loudness |
|---|---|
| EDM / House / Techno | −9.0 to −5.5 LUFS |
| Hip-Hop / Rap | −10.0 to −6.5 LUFS |
| Pop | Shown in your Track Report |
| Rock / Indie | Shown in your Track Report |
| Metal / Hardcore | Shown in your Track Report |
| R&B / Soul | Shown in your Track Report |
| Singer-Songwriter / Folk / Acoustic | −14.0 to −10.0 LUFS |
| Lo-fi / Ambient | Shown in your Track Report |
A range is a guide, not a rule. A quieter master with healthy dynamics is fine. If you land outside the range, listen before you change anything.
A simple approach
- Master to sound right for your genre, using reference tracks you like.
- Keep true peak below −1 dBTP.
- Check how much each platform will turn your track down. If it's a lot, you may be squashing the mix for nothing.
Want to see what this looks like on a real track? Open the sample report.