Loudness penalty: how much streaming turns your master down.
Every major streaming service plays music at a set loudness. If your master is louder, it is turned down by the difference: the loudness penalty. Enter your numbers to see it for each platform.
BY OKAN ÇAM · UPDATED
THE SHORT VERSION
- The loudness penalty is the gain change a streaming service applies to play your track at its target loudness.
- It's the platform's target minus your integrated LUFS: a −9 LUFS master is turned down 5 dB on Spotify (−14) and 7 dB on Apple Music (−16).
- It happens at playback. Your file isn't re-mastered, and the limiting in it stays.
- Spotify and Apple Music also turn quiet tracks up, but only until the peaks reach about −1 dB. YouTube doesn't turn quiet uploads up.
- A penalty only means the extra loudness won't be heard. Whether that matters depends on what the loudness cost your master.
Loudness penalty calculator
| Platform | Target | Change | Plays at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spotify | −14 | −5.0 dB | −14.0 LUFS |
| Apple Music | −16 | −7.0 dB | −16.0 LUFS |
| YouTube | −14 | −5.0 dB | −14.0 LUFS |
| Amazon Music | −14 | −5.0 dB | −14.0 LUFS |
| TIDAL | −14 | −5.0 dB | −14.0 LUFS |
| Deezer | −15 | −6.0 dB | −15.0 LUFS |
| SoundCloud | None | 0.0 dB | −9.0 LUFS |
Default settings. Spotify's Loud and Quiet modes, and listeners who switch normalization off, hear something else.
Don't know your numbers? The online analyzer measures integrated LUFS and true peak from your file, in your browser, and plays it at each service's level.
What is the loudness penalty?
When a track starts, the player applies one gain change so that it plays at the service's target loudness, measured as integrated LUFS with ITU-R BS.1770. For a master louder than the target, that change is negative. Engineers call it the loudness penalty, because the loudness a limiter added is taken back at playback.
Take a master at −8 LUFS. Spotify plays music at −14 LUFS by default, so it is turned down 6 dB. Apple Music plays at −16 LUFS, so there it is turned down 8 dB. A master at −14 LUFS plays unchanged on Spotify and 2 dB down on Apple Music.
What happens to quiet masters
Services differ on tracks below their target. Spotify and Apple Music turn them up, but only until the peaks reach about −1 dB, and they don't add a limiter to get further (Spotify's Loud setting is the exception). YouTube doesn't turn quiet uploads up at all.
So a quiet, dynamic master can end up quieter than the tracks around it. The number that decides how far it can come up is PLR, true peak minus integrated loudness: with a −14 LUFS target and a −1 dBTP ceiling, a master reaches −14 only if its PLR is 13 or less.
Is a loudness penalty bad?
No. A penalty only tells you that part of your master's loudness won't be heard on that service. What matters is what the loudness cost. After normalization, a master limited to −7 LUFS plays at the same level as one at −12 LUFS, but with smaller peaks and transients, so it can sound flatter next to it.
There are good reasons to master loud anyway: DJ sets, radio, clubs, and listeners who switch normalization off. Treat the penalty as a way to check the trade, not a number to hit. The fair test is by ear: turn your master and a reference down to the same integrated level, the way the platform will, and compare.
Hear the penalty on your own master
Drop your file into the online analyzer and press play under Hear it on streaming. Pick Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Amazon Music, TIDAL, Deezer or SoundCloud and the file plays at that service's level, next to the original. Nothing is uploaded. The Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube guides explain each service, and every target is in the loudness targets table.
FAQ
What is the loudness penalty?
The gain change a streaming service applies to play your track at its target loudness. For a master louder than the target, it's how many dB the track is turned down.
How do I calculate the loudness penalty?
Subtract your integrated LUFS from the platform's target. A −9 LUFS master on Spotify (−14 LUFS): −14 − (−9) = −5 dB.
Does the loudness penalty change my master?
No. It's a playback volume change. The file isn't made louder or quieter, and the compression and limiting in it stay.
Do streaming services turn quiet songs up?
Spotify and Apple Music do, until the peaks reach about −1 dB. YouTube doesn't turn quiet uploads up.
Should I master to avoid a loudness penalty?
Not necessarily. A penalty costs nothing on its own. What matters is whether the added loudness cost punch and clarity, so listen to your master at the platform's level before you decide.
Keep reading
What Is LUFS?
What LUFS measures, how it differs from dB and RMS, and the LUFS numbers that matter for streaming.
Spotify LUFS
What −14 LUFS means, the Loud, Normal and Quiet settings, and how loud to master for Spotify.
Apple Music LUFS
Sound Check, the −16 LUFS level, AAC and lossless, and what they mean for your master.
YouTube LUFS
YouTube turns loud videos down and never turns quiet ones up. How to read content loudness.
SoundCloud LUFS
No normalization, so louder is louder. Why true peak matters more on SoundCloud than anywhere.
True Peak vs Sample Peak
Why a master that peaks at 0 dBFS can still clip, and why −1 dBTP is the number everyone quotes.
What Is LRA?
Loudness range, how it's calculated, typical values, and what it can't tell you.
PLR and PSR
Peak-to-loudness and peak-to-short-term ratio: how hard is your master limited?
Youlean vs Loudmeter
An honest comparison: a DAW plug-in, and a browser analyzer with Mac and iPhone apps.
Why Meters Show Different LUFS
Same file, different numbers? The four setup mistakes behind almost every mismatch.
Loudness Targets for Every Platform
Streaming, podcast, broadcast and game targets in one table, with what each number means.
Measure your file now.
Free, in your browser. Your file never leaves your device.