The short answer: it depends on the platform
There is no single correct mastering loudness — it depends on where the track plays and whether that destination normalises loudness. Streaming platforms normalise, so you target their reference; club and broadcast do not normalise the same way, so the numbers differ.
Here is the practical reference: Spotify and YouTube around -14 LUFS, Apple Music -16 LUFS, club/DJ around -9 LUFS, broadcast (EBU R128) -23 LUFS, Netflix and film delivery around -27 LUFS. In every case, hold true peak at -1 dBTP (or -0.5 for lossless club).
Why louder is not better on streaming
Because Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube normalise playback, a master at -7 LUFS and one at -14 LUFS play back at the same perceived loudness — the platform turns the loud one down. But the -7 master arrives crushed, with squashed transients and a higher clipping risk. At matched loudness, the more dynamic master sounds better.
This reverses the old 'loudness war' logic. On normalised platforms, respecting the source beats chasing the ceiling.
Master for the song, then target the platform
Let the material guide dynamics first: a sparse acoustic track should breathe, a dense electronic track can sit controlled. Then normalise toward the platform reference rather than forcing every track to the same loud number. A quiet, dynamic arrangement pushed to -8 LUFS will sound worse and gain nothing on streaming.
Quantara measures integrated loudness with real BS.1770 metering and normalises toward your chosen target on export, holding true peak safe — so you hit the right number for each platform without guesswork.
Frequently asked questions
Target -14 LUFS integrated for Spotify and YouTube, -16 for Apple Music, with true peak at -1 dBTP. Streaming platforms normalise playback, so mastering louder than the reference gains no volume and only costs dynamics.
Spotify and YouTube around -14 LUFS, Apple Music -16, club/DJ around -9, broadcast (EBU R128) -23, and film/Netflix around -27. Keep true peak under -1 dBTP everywhere, or -0.5 for lossless club masters.
Not on normalised platforms. Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube turn loud masters down to their reference, so a crushed master plays at the same volume as a dynamic one but sounds worse. Louder only helps where playback is not normalised, like clubs.
-1.0 dBTP is the streaming standard — it leaves headroom so lossy codecs do not clip. For lossless club or CD masters that are not re-encoded, -0.5 dBTP is common. Always measure true peak, not just sample peak.