What is LUFS?
LUFS (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale) is the unit for perceived loudness — the standard streaming platforms use to level all tracks. Spotify normalizes to around -14 LUFS by default: louder masters get turned down, not the other way around. The loudness war is technically over.
What normalization means for your master
If your track is mastered to -8 LUFS, Spotify turns it down by roughly 6 dB — what remains is the crushed dynamics without the loudness advantage. A master around -14 to -10 LUFS (depending on genre) sounds just as loud after normalization but keeps punch and transients. More important than the number: no clipping, clean true-peak limiting (around -1 dBTP) and a mix that can carry dynamics.
Loudness check before release
Measure your master before upload — with a LUFS meter in your DAW export, or automatically: the OGRECORDS™ audio QC checks every track for loudness, clipping and phase issues before it goes to the stores. A technical problem surfaces before the release, not afterwards in the comments.
Frequently asked questions
How loud should I master for Spotify?
As a rule of thumb -14 to -10 LUFS integrated with about -1 dBTP true peak — genre-dependent (club music louder, acoustic quieter). What matters is a clean, dynamic master; the platform levels the loudness anyway.
Does a louder master get more streams?
No — normalization makes all tracks sound similarly loud. An over-compressed master just sounds flatter than the competition afterwards. Dynamics win.
Enough theory — get going.
You now know what happens between upload and stream. The release wizard handles the rest.
Release now →