Apple Music and LUFS: what Apple actually publishes
Apple publishes no LUFS target for Apple Music. What it publishes is a headroom requirement, at least 1 dB, and Sound Check, which levels playback per track and per album. The −16 LUFS you see quoted is not Apple’s figure.
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The figures
| Loudness target | −16 LUFS (partly published by the platform) |
|---|---|
| True-peak ceiling | −1 dBTP |
| A master quieter than the target | Whether a quieter master is turned up is not published. |
| Albums | Normalised as a whole, so the quiet songs stay quieter than the loud ones. |
| Where the figure comes from | Partly published by the platform |
Apple publishes the headroom requirement — at least 1 dB — and Sound Check per track and album. It publishes no LUFS figure; −16 is reported, not stated.
Where the −16 LUFS comes from
It is the figure the field repeats for Apple Music, in guides and in other tools. Apple does not state it in its own documents, and we know of no source from Apple that does. RefBooth reads a master for Apple Music against −16 LUFS so the report has a figure to compare with, and marks it as partly published by the platform wherever it appears.
What to deliver
Leave at least 1 dB of headroom, as Apple asks; the report reads that as a true peak of −1 dBTP or lower. For the loudness, no Apple figure rules out a louder or a quieter master; the guide to mastering loudness covers the choice, and the loudness targets page gives every platform’s figure with its source.
Check your master against Apple Music
Drop the file you are about to deliver: the report reads its loudness against Apple Music’s figure, its true peak against the ceiling, and says what to fix first. In DJ and Studio, each with a 3-day trial.
Is −16 LUFS the Apple Music target?
No. Apple publishes no loudness target; −16 LUFS is a figure others report. What Apple publishes is the headroom requirement and Sound Check.
What true peak does Apple Music want?
Apple’s mastering guidance asks for at least 1 dB of headroom, to avoid clipping when the file is encoded or played back. The report reads that as a true peak of −1 dBTP or lower.
Does Apple Music turn quiet masters up?
Whether a quieter master is turned up is not published.
The other two pages people ask about: Spotify and YouTube.
Sources
- Apple Music: apple.com, checked on 1 November 2026.