Streaming loudness targets, platform by platform
Integrated loudness, in LUFS, is the number a streaming platform reads to decide how far to turn a track down on playback. This table gives, for each platform RefBooth reads a master against, its target, its true-peak ceiling, what it does with a master quieter than that target, and where the figure comes from. Spotify and SoundCloud publish a target. Apple Music publishes only part of its figures. The rest are reported figures or working conventions, and each row says which.
| Platform | Target | True-peak ceiling | If your master is quieter | Where the figure comes from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spotify | −14 LUFS | −1 dBTP or −2 dBTP if louder than the target | Turned up, but only until its true peak reaches −1 dBTP | Published by the platform Normal −14, Loud −11, Quiet −19. Albums are normalised as a whole, and a quiet master is turned up only as far as 1 dB of headroom allows. Source: support.spotify.com |
| Apple Music | −16 LUFS | −1 dBTP | Not published | 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. Source: apple.com |
| YouTube | −14 LUFS | −1 dBTP | Not turned up | Reported, not published YouTube publishes no loudness target. −14 is the figure the field repeats, and it is reported to turn loud masters down and never quiet ones up. "Stable volume" is on by default and also compresses dynamics, which no number here describes. Source: support.google.com |
| SoundCloud | −14 LUFS | −1 dBTP or −2 dBTP if louder than the target | Not published | Published by the platform Identical in shape to Spotify: −14 LUFS, −1 dBTP, and −2 dBTP if louder than the target. The help article now sits behind a sign-in wall, and it is not verified here whether a quiet master is turned up. Source: help.soundcloud.com |
| TIDAL | −14 LUFS | −1 dBTP | Not published | Reported, not published TIDAL normalises, and its support article on the subject is gone. −14 is third-party. Source: tidal.com |
| Amazon Music | −14 LUFS | −2 dBTP | Not published | Reported, not published No published music target. −14 is third-party; the −2 dBTP ceiling comes from Amazon’s Alexa audio specification, which is a different context. Source: developer.amazon.com |
| Deezer | −15 LUFS | −1 dBTP | Not published | Reported, not published Deezer confirms it normalises and gives no figure. −15 is third-party. Source: support.deezer.com |
| Club / DJ | −8 LUFS | −0.3 dBTP | Not turned up | A working convention No platform, no specification, no normalisation. A club system plays what the file contains, so this row is the level dance masters are cut to — a working convention, nothing more. Source: none |
RefBooth reads your master against the platform you deliver to: its loudness against the target, its true peak against the ceiling, and what to fix first. Your first report needs no account.
Platforms change their own requirements without notice, so check the source in a row before you deliver. To read one measurement on its own, use the LUFS checker or the true peak checker.