For years, the goal of mastering was simple: make it louder. Today, streaming services turn loud tracks down, and music supervisors care more about how a track sits under picture than how hard it hits. Here is what LUFS measures, what numbers to aim for, and how to check your own music.

What Is LUFS?

LUFS stands for Loudness Units relative to Full Scale. It measures how loud a track actually sounds to the human ear, not just how high its peaks reach. Two tracks can peak at exactly the same level and still sound very different in loudness, because one is dense and heavily compressed while the other is open and dynamic. LUFS captures that difference.

The number you will see most often is integrated LUFS, which is the average loudness across the entire track. Because LUFS values are negative, a smaller number means a louder track. A master at -8 LUFS is much louder than one at -16 LUFS.

How Streaming Services Use LUFS

Most streaming services normalize playback so listeners do not have to reach for the volume knob between songs. If your track is louder than the service's target, it gets turned down. Approximate targets for the major platforms:

  • Spotify: about -14 LUFS
  • YouTube: about -14 LUFS
  • Tidal and Amazon Music: about -14 LUFS
  • Apple Music: about -16 LUFS

This means a track mastered to -8 LUFS will be turned down by roughly 6 dB on Spotify. It will not sound louder than a -14 LUFS track. What it can sound like is flatter, because the heavy limiting it took to reach -8 LUFS squashed the dynamics, and normalization does not give those dynamics back.

Louder is not a competitive advantage on streaming. Once normalization kicks in, every track plays at roughly the same level. The track with more punch and movement usually sounds better, not the one that was pushed hardest.

What About Sync Licensing?

Sync works differently. When a music supervisor or editor auditions tracks in a library, they are often listening back to back, and a track that is much quieter than the others can come across as weak or unfinished. That pushes sync masters to be fuller and more competitive than a pure streaming master.

At the same time, your track will rarely play at its original level in the final project. It gets edited, placed under dialogue and sound effects, and mixed down so the whole program meets a broadcast standard, around -23 LUFS in Europe and -24 LKFS in the US. The mixer will lower your track as needed. What they cannot fix is a master that is distorted or crushed so flat that it has nowhere to go under a scene.

That is why we recommend an integrated loudness between -13 and -7 LUFS for music on OnChain Music. That range keeps your track competitive in a library while leaving it clean enough to work under picture. If your track is quieter than -13 LUFS, a mastering pass can bring it up. If it is louder than -7 LUFS, it is likely over-compressed or clipping.

True Peak: Leave Some Headroom

Integrated LUFS is only half the picture. True peak measures the highest point your audio reaches, including the peaks that appear between digital samples when the file is converted or played back. It is measured in dBTP.

Aim for a true peak of -1 dBTP or lower. When a track peaks above that, converting it to MP3 or AAC for streaming, or running it through a broadcast chain, can introduce audible distortion. A master that peaks above 0 dBTP is clipping, and that is one of the fastest ways to get passed over in a supervisor's inbox.

Dynamic Range Matters Under Picture

Loudness range, measured in LU, describes how much your track moves between its quiet and loud sections. Tracks with very low loudness range, below about 4 LU, tend to sound flat and fatiguing, and they compete with dialogue instead of supporting it. A track that builds, breathes, and swells gives an editor more to work with, which makes it easier to place.

There is no single right number here. Ambient and cinematic music naturally has more range than a dense electronic track. The goal is to avoid limiting the life out of your music just to hit a loudness number.

How to Check Your Track

You do not need a mastering studio to find out where your music stands. Our free Music Health Scan measures integrated LUFS, true peak, loudness range, and file quality in seconds. It also checks the metadata embedded in your file, including title, artist, ISRC, composer, and publisher, and tells you how ready your track is for sync, with clear steps to improve it.

Scan your track for free. Upload a WAV, AIFF, FLAC, or MP3 and get your loudness and metadata results in seconds. No account required, and your file is deleted as soon as the scan finishes.

🎚ī¸ Run a Free Health Scan

How to Fix Loudness Problems

If your scan shows your track is too quiet, clipping, or over-compressed, the fix happens in mastering. You can adjust your own limiter settings if you master yourself: lower the output ceiling to -1 dBTP to stop clipping, and ease off the gain going into the limiter if the track sounds squashed.

If you would rather have it handled for you, OnChain Music offers AI-powered mastering with selectable loudness targets. You can preview the mastered version side by side with your original, and your credit is only used if you accept the master.

Quick Reference

  • Streaming target: about -14 LUFS (Apple Music about -16)
  • Recommended range for sync on OnChain Music: -13 to -7 LUFS integrated
  • True peak: -1 dBTP or lower, never above 0 dBTP
  • Loudness range: avoid going below about 4 LU unless the style calls for it
  • File format for sync: lossless WAV or AIFF, 44.1 kHz or higher