Mastering for Spotify: loudness, true peak and what normalization does

How Spotify normalizes playback loudness

Loudness normalization is a playback level adjustment that makes tracks play at a similar loudness. Spotify turns louder tracks down and raises quieter tracks within limits. Normalization is on by default in the app, but listeners can switch it off.

LUFS means loudness units relative to full scale. It is the unit Spotify uses to measure loudness, following the ITU-R BS.1770 measurement standard. Integrated LUFS describes loudness measured across the whole track, rather than at one moment.

Spotify’s default Normal setting aims for around -14 LUFS integrated. For example, a master at -8 LUFS is turned down toward that playback level. The adjustment does not undo changes to the track’s dynamics made during mastering.

When someone listens to an album, Spotify applies normalization at album level, preserving the relative loudness between its tracks.

Why a louder master does not play louder by default

Compare two masters of the same track: one at -8 LUFS and one at -14 LUFS. LUFS measures perceived loudness, with an integrated reading covering the whole track. Under Spotify’s default Normal setting, loudness normalization, playback adjustment toward a shared level, brings the louder master down to around -14 LUFS.

That reduction changes playback level, not dynamics, the differences between louder and quieter moments. If pushing your master to -8 LUFS reduced those differences, turning it down does not restore them. You hear the changes left by loud mastering, without its extra level.

So -8 LUFS does not buy you louder playback under Normal. Listeners can choose another setting or switch normalization off, so this comparison depends on their playback choice.

True peak limits for Spotify masters

Next, check the peaks. True peak is the highest reconstructed signal level, measured in dBTP, or decibels true peak. Spotify’s recommended ceiling depends on how loud your master is overall.

• At about -14 LUFS integrated, keep true peaks no higher than -1 dBTP. LUFS means loudness units relative to full scale; integrated loudness measures the track as a whole.
• If your master is louder than -14 LUFS integrated, Spotify recommends true peaks at or below -2 dBTP.
• These are Spotify’s own recommendations, not a separate delivery rule from BeatRootRaga.

That lower ceiling leaves room for lossy encoding, which reduces file size by discarding audio information. Spotify warns that a louder master may otherwise clip after encoding, even when playback turns it down.

What happens to quiet masters

A quiet master with high peaks may not have much room to be turned up. Spotify limits that increase according to true peak, the estimated highest level of the reconstructed audio signal. So a track can be quiet overall while its peaks leave little room for extra gain, meaning a level increase.

Loudness normalization adjusts playback level so tracks play at similar loudness. On Spotify’s default Normal setting, the target is around -14 LUFS integrated. LUFS means loudness units relative to full scale; integrated loudness measures the track as a whole.

Spotify turns quieter masters up, but only as far as their true peaks allow. If those peaks prevent enough gain, the track stays below the Normal target. Normalization is not a guarantee that every quiet master will reach the same playback loudness.

Spotify’s Loud, Normal and Quiet settings

The listener can choose Loud, Normal or Quiet. These settings change the target for loudness normalization, Spotify's playback adjustment that brings tracks to similar levels. Targets use LUFS, loudness units relative to full scale, to describe measured loudness.

• Loud targets around -11 LUFS, above the default playback level.
• Normal targets around -14 LUFS and is the default setting.
• Quiet targets around -19 LUFS, below the default playback level.

On Loud, Spotify applies a limiter when turning tracks up. A limiter is a processor that restrains peaks to prevent clipping, which happens when the signal exceeds the available level. Loud therefore involves more than a different target number.

File formats for Spotify delivery

For delivery, Spotify’s audio file formats documentation asks for WAV or FLAC. These are lossless audio formats, meaning they preserve the audio data rather than discard some of it to reduce file size.

Spotify lists 16-bit and 24-bit options. These refer to bit depth, the number of bits used to represent each audio sample. Both are documented options, so the supplied guidance does not require you to choose 24-bit over 16-bit.

Keep the delivery format separate from your mastering decisions. WAV or FLAC answers the file-format question. Neither choice replaces the loudness and peak checks discussed above. Those checks still belong on your final master, whichever of the two formats you choose.

Spotify’s mastering recommendation and your final checks

Spotify’s Normal playback target and mastering advice both sit around -14 LUFS integrated. LUFS means loudness units relative to full scale; integrated measures the whole track. The target governs loudness normalization, playback adjustments that bring tracks to similar levels. The advice guides your master.

• Loudness: measure the export against Spotify’s recommendation of about -14 LUFS integrated.
• Peaks: true peak estimates the highest reconstructed signal level. Keep it no higher than -1 dBTP (decibels true peak), or -2 dBTP when mastering louder than -14 LUFS.
• Dynamics: listen to the contrast between softer and louder moments. A -8 LUFS master gets turned down on Normal, retaining its mastering changes.
• Delivery: confirm the final export passes the format checks above.