What is LUFS, and how loud should a song be?
LUFS is the unit for the average loudness of a whole song, as people hear it. The number is always negative, and closer to 0 is louder: -10 LUFS is louder than -14 LUFS. For a streaming release, master to about -14 LUFS.
The loudness each platform uses
Music platforms bring every song to a similar loudness, so listeners do not have to turn the volume up or down between songs.
These numbers are from October 2026. A platform may change them.
- Spotify, YouTube, Amazon Music and Tidal: about -14 LUFS
- Deezer: -15 LUFS
- Apple Music: -16 LUFS
What you get from going louder than -14 LUFS
On streaming the song does not play louder. A song that is too loud is turned down to match the others. What is left is a sound squashed until loud and quiet parts sit close together, with less drum punch.
A louder file pays off when it is played directly, with no loudness matching, such as a file you send for someone to open on a computer.
What happens to a song quieter than -14 LUFS
A song well under the target may sound quieter than the others in a playlist, because not every platform turns quiet songs up.
What true peak is, and whether to watch it
Watch it. True peak is the real top of the sound after a player turns the file into a waveform, and it can be higher than the top you see in the file. If it goes over the ceiling, the loudest parts clip.
Most platforms recommend -1 dBTP or lower, and Amazon Music recommends -2 dBTP.
How MOYS sets the loudness
The default is -14 LUFS with a true peak at or below -2 dBTP, which passes every platform above. If a song has a big gap between loud and quiet parts, we let it come out up to 2 dB under the target so the sound is not pushed too hard.
There is a Loud level (-10 LUFS) for files you will play yourself, and every song's report shows LUFS and true peak before and after mastering.