Mastering for Spotify: How to Optimize Your Tracks to Achieve the Perfect Sound

Perhaps the following situation sounds familiar: You have mastered your track according to the general mastering standards, you really enjoy how it sounds, and you can’t wait for the world to hear it. A few weeks later, the release date arrives, and you’re pressing play on your newly published song on Spotify—only to discover that the track sounds… well, a bit different from the version you submitted. Maybe it’s a little flat, less punchy, compressed, and certain elements might sound distorted.

What’s likely standing behind this is Spotify’s loudness normalization. What is that? Let’s find out!

Let’s first start with exploring a few terms. Now, the article might get a bit technical, but don’t worry, we will keep it as simple as possible. First things first, audio normalization is the process of adjusting the overall volume (gain) of an audio recording to a target level. The purpose of it is to ensure that sound levels across different tracks, files, or recordings are consistent and thus help create a balanced listening experience. Normalization does that by adjusting the gain or amplitude by a constant value across the entire audio signal, raising or lowering it to match a specific target level.

There are two types of normalization. Peak normalization adjusts the volume of a recording so that its highest peak (maximum amplitude) reaches a specific level. This target level is typically set to 0 dBFS (decibels relative to full scale), which indicates the loudest level permitted in a digital system. Contrary to a common misconception, while peak normalization raises the maximum amplitude, it doesn’t affect or change the perceived loudness of the content. Instead, its purpose is to prevent distortion and clipping in the audio file.

Meanwhile, loudness normalization adjusts the overall perceived loudness of an audio recording, aligning the average loudness to a consistent target level. Loudness normalization ultimately ensures that the volume remains consistent across various connected content or audio segments.

For example, when listening to multiple songs consecutively, normalization guarantees that all songs share a similar perceived loudness level. Without loudness normalization, one song in the playlist might appear louder or quieter than the others, forcing the listener to adjust the volume up or down to maintain a comfortable playback level. The same goes for a podcast, where loudness normalization makes sure that the narration, music, and ads in the podcast all sound consistent in volume.

So, what does all of this mean for my track on Spotify, you might wonder. And it’s a great question. The reality is that tracks are delivered to Spotify (and other streaming and download platforms) at varying volume levels—some are quite soft while others are fairly loud.

In theory, this would imply that listeners would need to adjust their volume with each track to hear all the tracks at the same volume and thus achieve the best listening experience. To balance quieter and louder songs and ensure a smooth, uniform listening experience, Spotify employs loudness normalization.

This ultimately means that once released, all the tracks on the platform, once released, have their perceived loudness adjusted to the same target level, regardless of their original loudness when submitted. Spotify’s policy states it adjusts tracks to -14 dB LUFS. Therefore, if you submit a track (or an entire album or EP) that exceeds this level, Spotify will lower it to about -14 dB LUFS. And vice versa, if you are below the target loudness, Spotify will raise it to that level.

Ultimately, this is why your track might sound different—usually somewhat muffled and flat—when you release it on Spotify. This underscores the importance of mastering your music with intention when releasing it on this or other streaming platforms. Each platform has its own loudness standards and specifications, and without having them in mind during your mastering process, your track may sound significantly different from how it sounds in the studio or your DAW.

Now that you’re familiar with loudness normalization, let’s take a closer look at Spotify’s audio specifications and requirements, particularly regarding loudness.

As noted earlier, Spotify normalizes its tracks to -14 dB LUFS, following the ITU BS. 1770 recommendation. This standard, set by the International Telecommunication Union, serves as the international benchmark for measuring loudness.

LUFS, which stands for loudness units relative to full scale, is a standard audio loudness measurement that reflects how the human ear-brain system interprets and perceives loudness, taking into account the total balance of sound. In practice, the measurement offers a uniform method for measuring and comparing the loudness of different audio content, helping prevent loudness wars and ensuring a more consistent listening experience.

In addition to LUFS, it’s also crucial to consider the true peak levels (TP) of your audio. True peak, in the context of digital audio, signifies the maximum level of a signal after it has been converted from digital to analog, factoring in inter-sample peaks that might be created during the conversion process. These inter-sample peaks can exceed (be louder than) the actual peaks measured in the digital domain, potentially leading to distortion when played back on different playback devices.

Generally, Spotify advises keeping your master below -1 dB TP (true peak) at maximum. This is the optimal choice for lossy formats like Ogg/Vorbis and AAC, ensuring no additional distortion occurs during the transcoding process. If your master is rather loud and aggressive and exceeds -14 dB integrated LUFS, you should adjust it to below -2 dB TP to avoid extra distortion. This is because louder tracks are more prone to additional distortion during transcoding.

It’s important to note that Spotify allows listeners to opt out of volume normalization and adjust the volume control for their environment in the Spotify app, choosing between quiet, normal, and loud. It is equally important to mention that the web player, along with third-party devices like speakers and TVs, don’t use loudness normalization. This means your music might sound different when played in the app compared to the browser.

With all that said, we have a little cliffhanger for you. Is the concept of -14 dB LUFS relevant? Yes, it is. Is it essential for your tracks to sound great on Spotify? Not really.

We know what you might be thinking. We spent so much time diving into loudness normalization, LUFS, and the importance of Spotify’s specifications and requirements, only to tell you that you don’t necessarily need to follow them. But hear us out! Understanding Spotify’s loudness requirements and mastering strategically with these in mind is crucial for giving your track the best possible sound on the platform (and all other platforms). However, this doesn’t necessarily mean you need to master your tracks exactly at -14 dB LUFS for Spotify.

Yes, if your track is louder than -14 LUFS, Spotify will turn it down, and if it's quieter, it may turn it up (unless doing so would cause clipping, in which case it won’t)—but that doesn’t imply that mastering to -14 LUFS is the best approach for your track.

There are countless discussions and threads among artists and mastering engineers, with many claiming the -14 LUFS concept is solely a recommendation, not a rule or an industry standard.

In fact, there’s a Reddit post where the creator, a certain Bill2200, presented the results of their little experiment. They aimed to discover which tracks, in terms of LUFS and True Peak, are sent to the platform by both prominent and smaller artists before Spotify normalizes them according to its specifications. What the user did was turn off normalization and enable high-quality streaming in their Spotify app. Afterwards, they used loopback and iShowu (a real-time screen recording tool for macOS, which supposedly creates high-quality recordings) to capture the audio of the selected tracks from Spotify into their DAW.

The user tested about 100 songs across various genres and time periods, featuring artists of different levels, from smaller and up-and-coming musicians to prominent figures. According to Bill2200’s research, only two tracks had a True Peak of -1 dB, and just four tracks averaged around -14 integrated LUFS. Most True Peaks were not even close to -1 dB, with some reaching approximately -0.3 and others, on the other side of the spectrum, +0.9 dB. Regarding LUFS, the majority of tracks averaged between -7 and -11 Integrated LUFS, which is significantly higher than Spotify’s standard.

The outcome of the research was that hardly any of these tracks were mastered according to Spotify's requirements, while Bill2200’s conclusion suggested that to make your song sound good on the platform, you don’t really need to do that either. "At the end of the day, what matters most is that your track sounds good, there's enough dynamic range, and it's enjoyable to listen to, not whether or not you're at -14 or -16 LUFS or whatever."

Bill2200’s comment—and similar views from others—ultimately shift the conversation away from criticizing the -14 LUFS standard itself. Instead, they suggest that the real issue is relying too heavily on LUFS as the sole important metric during mastering. While the metric does make a helpful estimation of how human ears perceive music, it isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution.

Different genres, styles, and arrangements require different dynamics and intensity. For instance, applying the same loudness target to a soft pop ballad and a heavy, aggressive metal storm of a track ignores their artistic intent and the musical perspective. If they sound right at different loudness levels, why should they be forced to meet the same numeric standard?

Instead of strictly adhering to Spotify’s loudness recommendations, concentrate on your track, the genre, and your artistic intent. As previously mentioned, each genre may require a unique approach and, therefore, a different loudness value. For example, in more aggressive genres like EDM, trap, or metal, mastering at higher levels (e.g., -8 to -10 LUFS) may produce a better sound, even though it will eventually be turned down by Spotify. This is because the apparent, perceived loudness is higher.

As mentioned earlier, focusing solely on the loudness of your track may not be the best approach—especially if it leads to ignoring or sacrificing its dynamic range. While it is important for your track to be loud enough, preserving its dynamic range is just as crucial, and finding the appropriate balance between these two elements is key—or understanding what to prioritize in your track. In simple terms: ‘louder isn’t always better.’

If you prioritize loudness, you compress and limit the audio more aggressively, which will make it sound louder and more ‘in your face.’ However, you lose some of the song’s dynamics, which can make it feel a bit flat and lifeless. This isn’t necessarily bad for all types of music; for example, genres like modern EDM, trap, or radio pop might greatly benefit from it.

Prioritizing dynamics, on the other hand, allows for greater variation in volume and intensity, making the track breathe and ‘move’ more—meaning that the quiet parts feel more intimate while the crescendos and climax of the song hit harder. As a result, this can make the track more emotionally engaging for the audience. However, the song may sound quieter overall, compared to more compressed tracks, especially on streaming services. This approach works well for orchestral music, jazz, film scores, or acoustic singer-songwriter styles, where preserving the musical feel as well as subtlety and space is essential.

Headroom is the space or difference between the highest peak in your audio signal and the maximum level your system can handle to avoid distortion or clipping (usually 0 dBFS). Essentially, leaving headroom in your mix is crucial for music production. In addition to preventing distortion and clipping, it helps maintain the dynamic range of your track, avoid harshness, and facilitate a cleaner and more powerful final product.

During the mastering process, leaving headroom provides space for the signal to breathe and be processed, while giving the mastering engineer (or simply the person mastering the song) the opportunity to apply compression, limiting, and other processes to optimize the loudness and overall sound of the track.

Ultimately, to achieve the best results, you should target your loudest peaks in your master stereo fader to remain between -3 and -6 dB while mixing—some experts advise maintaining -6 to -12 dB of headroom for added safety. In mastering, you should keep the true peak ceiling around -1 dBTP (some engineers even recommend -1.5 dBTP for safety).

Even when you follow all the advice and ensure your music sounds perfect in your DAW, there’s often uncertainty about how it will translate to streaming platforms like Spotify after loudness normalization. That’s when specialized tools for platform-optimized mastering become useful.

Tools and plugins like Ozone, Youlean, FabFilter, or Loudness Penalty Analyzer can provide insight into how your track will sound on a specific platform—specifically, whether the platform will adjust its loudness. They measure integrated LUFS and true peak values, preview the loudness adjustments that Spotify (or any other platform) might apply to your track, and ideally help you avoid over-compression or unwanted distortion.

Although no tool can truly rival or mimic Spotify’s playback chain, these tools offer a realistic estimate of how your track will perform and sound on the platform—allowing you to make smarter, well-informed mastering decisions.

There’s nothing better in mastering than knowing exactly what you want your track to sound like on a streaming platform. Actually, that’s not entirely true. What’s even better is finding something tangible to refer to in the mastering process—a track that serves as your ideal or target. This is where a reference track comes into play. Essentially, a reference track represents a benchmark that can guide the sound of your own track during the mixing and mastering process.

Finding a suitable reference track can be a game-changer for you. It can help you achieve the desired levels of loudness and dynamic range, as well as tonal balance and overall sound quality, by simply comparing it with your track.

If you discover a song that matches yours by genre, style, or arrangement, and you enjoy how it sounds on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, etc.—especially in terms of loudness—you can take a similar approach to what Bill2200 did in our previous case. Simply disable loudness normalization in Spotify’s playback settings. Legally record or download the track, import it into your DAW alongside your own mix, and use metering tools, such as the previously mentioned Ozone or Youlean, to analyze its LUFS, True Peak, and frequency balance. Afterward, use your findings to guide your own mastering decision. Just make sure not to copy the data blindly—focus on matching the feeling and quality of the reference track, not just the numbers.

It’s also important to note that Spotify uses Ogg Vorbis compression, which slightly alters audio compared to the WAV or FLAC versions. If possible, try to use the original high-quality master of the reference track for a more accurate analysis and outcomes.