How-to · Mastering
How to master a song for Spotify
Spotify turns every song to roughly the same loudness, so mastering louder doesn't make you louder — it just makes you more squashed. Here's how to master for streaming.
Step by step
- Leave headroom in your mix. Bounce the final mix with peaks around -6 dB and no limiter on the master bus.
- Aim for about -14 LUFS. Spotify normalizes to -14 LUFS integrated. Sonar's free Song Mastering tool has a Streaming preset that targets it automatically.
- Keep true peaks under -1 dBTP. Spotify's encoding can push peaks higher. Leaving 1 dB of true-peak headroom prevents distortion after conversion.
- Shape the tone, then compare. Use gentle low and high shelves for warmth or brightness, then A/B the master against a reference track at the same loudness.
- Export a 24-bit WAV. Upload a 24-bit WAV to your distributor, not an MP3.
Louder genres like EDM or trap are often mastered to -9 to -11 LUFS on purpose. Spotify will turn them down, so only go that loud if you like the sound of it.
What LUFS means
LUFS measures perceived loudness over the whole song, the same way streaming services do. Peak meters only show the loudest instant, which is why a track can peak at 0 dB and still sound quiet.
Apple Music normalizes to about -16 LUFS and YouTube to about -14, so a -14 LUFS master with -1 dBTP peaks is a safe target everywhere.
Common questions
- What LUFS should I master to for Spotify?
- Around -14 LUFS integrated, with true peaks at or below -1 dBTP. Louder masters get turned down by normalization.
- Can I master a song for free online?
- Yes. Sonar's Song Mastering tool measures loudness to the broadcast standard, applies presets, and exports a 24-bit WAV for free in your browser.
- Will a quieter master sound worse on Spotify?
- No. With normalization on (the default), Spotify raises quieter tracks, and a dynamic master often sounds punchier than a crushed one.