LUFS Explained - SIMPLE! (Mastering for Spotify)
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- Опубликовано: 16 июл 2024
- LUFS levels explained in 7 minutes! Learn how to master your music for Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer and Tidal using LUFS.
In this video I explain what “LUFS” metering is, and how to use it to master your music. I also give an example of mastering a piece of music for Spotify and for CD using LUFS.
Here is the free LUFS metering plugin I use in this tutorial: youlean.co/youlean-loudness-m...
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Whether you are mastering for streaming services or download or CD, your LUFS levels should be optimised.
The LUFS levels required for Spotify and most streaming platforms is -14LUFS, whereas the LUFS level you might want to hit for printing to CD / Vinyl / Download sites will depend on the genre of music you are making.
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#LUFS #mastering #metering
![Что такое LUFS и как с ним работать ? [Арам Киракосян]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/CQpIWVFddt0/mqdefault.jpg)
Does this explains things clearly!? Let me know in the comments! 🤔
Yes, really clear! But did not come to mastering yet on my producing learning path so will revisit once I'm there!
The PRO L 2 has a luf meter why the need to use another plugin?
@@GreatestSportsHighLights Great question. Not everyone has the Pro L2, so it's good to show a free way of doing it
Simple and objective video. It's really easy to understand. Well done! :)
Thanks!
This is by far the simplest and most understandable tutorial on this topic on RUclips. Every other one I've watched hasn't explained it simply enough, or glosses over key information. If anyone questions me about LUFs again I will point them towards your tutorial. Brilliant job man
Glad I could help, Chris, thank you for watching and supporting the channel :)
Anything else in particular you’re struggling with?
@@EDMTips Honestly more vids about linking emotion to chords would be great? I feel like my music theory knowledge is good, but I want to learn how to turn the chords and notes into specific emotions. Instead of just playing around until I stumble across a mood/emotion if that makes sense?
RMS is the average overtime LUFS is in reference to how loud it actually sounds. For instants a high pitch sound will come across as louder than a sub base even at the same DB
pretty cool and simple. two thoughts:
- intergrated loudness for spotify (and other streaming services) should be measured for the whole track, not just the loudest section - you are looping the loudest section and the meter comes up with -13LUFS, but the whole track does have lower intergrated LUFS and that will be used by the streaming service.
- volume adjustment by streaming services is applied at playtime - they (usually) don't change (normalize) the uploaded track - check it out - there's difference when you play music on youtube or if you download the file back from it. the uploaded file is not changed.
exactly what i was thinking, i was under the impression that to check the integrated of the track it needs to play the entire track or at least almost the entire track
nice so how would we do it correctly then?
as was already said: analyse the whole track
This the best most straightforward video tutorial on this topic yet on RUclips. Great job and thanks again. 👍 😎
Awesome! You’re very welcome :)
Best video on the subject found so far, clear and concise. Love the visual explanations. Subbed.
As I am 55, I was part of those gruntling old musicians reluctant to accept digital because "is killing creativity". This video has explained to me, like nobody before, that you can still be creative with digital mastering. Only the method has changed. Thank you so very much!
You're welcome! 🙂
As I am here 59 yr old thinking the same as u learning this not so new technology that we never had.
Beat the lot of you. I'm 67
You Sir, is one of the greatest youtuber out there. So clear and also phenomenal visuals.
Wow, thank you!
The best tutorial. Thanks for this 🖤🖤🖤
When I analyze different Tracks downloaded from Beatport. Then they are all mastered as loud as possible. with Peaks up to +1.6 dB als integreted LUFS -9 up to -6 dB. In my opinion, the louder the better is still true.
U r right. I dont see much youtubers mention this. All of them just go by the books and say lufs -14 and -1db TP. Doing that will make ur mix much quieter compared to the pro tracks on streaming services. I am yet to find a youtube video which addresses this and guide us on the proper limits of lufs that we can go for. Maybe someone who masters for proper mainstream commercial release should guide us on this.
Thank you for this. It actually makes sense! Also: To anyone reading: With my recent release, I realized just HOW EXTREME the normalization algorithms of platforms are. The MORE LOUD AND IN YOUR FACE I tried to make the gain, the quieter the song sounded on RUclips and other platforms. It sounded EPIC AF when listening to my master WAV file, but of course because of the fact that I made it so loud, (average volume, high LUFS) streaming platforms (including RUclips) made it sound quieter. And even squashed in terms of quality in my opinion. So it's a very counterintuitive process. The louder you try to make your average volume (especially with the gain on your master limiter, etc) the quieter it can sound on platforms. I don't mind the loudness wars. I HATE that audio gets normalized on platforms. BUT I should have conformed instead of rebelled. If I were playing the song at a club, I woulda been fine. But you can always rely on streaming platforms to screw you. THAT BEING SAID!!!!! If I were a jazz musician and WANTED dynamics and an overall quiet feel, I might also be pissed off that streaming platforms made it LOUDER. I already knew I was gonna be a victim to normalization, but I didn't know how extreme until I released my song, and then a remastered version. I regret nothing. But I hope that this prevents whoever is reading this from making the same mistake, or at LEAST be aware of the consequences of loudness rebellion when it comes to streaming platforms. Like I said, if you're trying to make a song super dynamic or quiet on purpose, it might affect you the opposite way and become louder instead. The loudness wars are over, but at what cost? Conformity? It is what it is. The most important thing, however, is for the music itself to sound good (: And a great mix is the best way to get to a great master. But my mastering process really caused me to shoot myself in the foot. God bless, and best wishes! Thanks again for the video!
You're welcome, and thanks for sharing your experience, I am sure it will be useful to others!
Thank you. I recently uploaded a track to RUclips which was an extremely loud master but it's completely quiet in RUclips. I was wondering what the hell was going on.
@@Derpadeedooda sounds like a very normal problem to have! I don’t think normalization applied at all (or at least not as heavily) to older videos, but nowadays super loud masters get quieted down, and possibly also messing up the quality
@@Derpadeedooda You made the upload directly to youtube or by a distributor?
Thank you! This was helpful! So what LUFS did you send your music in as?
Great Tips - this is definitely valuable to know for my uploads!
This makes sense im about to go to the studio to master right now ive been confused about it but i think im getting it now
Best explanation I've heard so far. Ready to work :)
Great video, concise and informative and no nonsense. Many Thanks
Glad it was helpful!
Great video, thanks for straight forward explanation!
Thanks, and you're welcome!
Nice explanation of the concept. I particularly liked the tie-in to the volume of TV commercials. That explains a lot!
Glad you found it helpful, John! Thanks for watching 🙂
Thank you!! This is the first time this process makes sense to me !
You're welcome! 🙂
So incredibly helpful and easy to follow. Thank you so much!
You should use the Spotify Preset on Youlean, the True Peak Max is set to -1. You are not giving at least -1 one of space in any example. Decreasing the Output on FabFilte Pro-L 2 to -1 or a little bit more (-1.12) will solve the space issue.
yes! Spotify states this in their FAQ
Totally agree. Having peak at -1 gives some head room for the byproduct of added gain when converting to a lossy codec like mp3. Pretty sure Spotify will actually turn you down if it peaks above -1 dB. That said, this is how I would approach mastering for CD or direct download.
from what I hear, it's a beautiful tune!
Really nicely explained, thanks for that!
You’re welcome!
Thanks for the information! Time to go level my tracks :)
You're welcome! 🙂
Hey. Thank you. Everything is so clear now🙏🏻
You’re welcome 😊
I'm not an EDM producer but this is incredibly clear and useful, thanks!
You're very welcome!
thank you for explaining all the terminology and different areas of this, I'm good at making music but have no clue how about mastering lol. Other videos would use all these terms to explain it but wouldnt explain what they mean so I was still lost
Thanks for explaining this!
You're welcome!
Thank you man, super tips
Thank's for that simple explanation!!
You’re welcome! Glad it was helpful!🙂
Brilliant video!
Thanks for the info.. lovely.
thanks for this
Great video bro
Liked and suscribed .
Well, looks like I've done my job then! 😉 Thanks for subscribing and I hope you continue to enjoy the content! 🙌🏻
That was REALLY REALLY helpful! Thank you soooo much!! 😍😍😍
You're so welcome!
EDM Tips 🙏🏼❤️
Very helpful. Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you!
Thanks a lot for this clear explanation. The loudness war is quite a mess ! ;)
You're welcome!
Great tip thanks!
Glad it was helpful!
after bambillion times I found a video that finally explain this perfectly
Thnx a million 4 d clear explanation!
You're welcome! 🙂
@@EDMTips A question, though! Now, digital distributors take only 1 mastered file that i upload. Why should i make different masters for different platforms?!? Where do i submit them?
Amazing 🔥
Really helpful video thank you. Quick question though... you measured LUFS when looping the loudest part of the track. Do Spotify measure the average LUFS value across the whole track or just the loudest part? Many thanks.
I use Sony WH-1000XM3 headphones with spotify on my phone. What should i set 'volume level' at in the settings for quality? Default is normal. Would Low be a better quality but quieter? All the music is downloaded to best quality also. Thanks fo any help!
Thank You
You're welcome! Thanks for watching :)
This brings up a dilemma. I use a service that distributes to all platforms at once. But i can only upload one audio file.. so what is the best way to do that?
Appreciate it sir😌🙏
You’re welcome! Glad you enjoyed :)
cheers dude! :)
Any time!
Hi! Thank you, very helpful! One thing I still don't understand, even when I'm keeping my lufs and dbtp under control, my music will eventually sound not as loud as literally every other song on for example Spotify. I just can't figure that out that mystery.
Great video
Thanks!
Hey bro, nice explanation, but can you tell please, why is your master at -6 dB? You are adding gain with utility, why not just add some on master fader? Thank you!
Is the 8-week edm production masterclass DAW specific?
ALWAYS BEEN A FAN #1000
Appreciate your support man!
So what's the best LUFs measurement for youtube?
As for streaming services who apply loudness normalization, it should probably be okay to master as loud as you want without destroying the dynamics. Meaning, if you are okay with how the dynamics sound in your track, then it's irrelevant if your track sits at -14 LUFS integrated or at -6 LUFS integrated. Of course all of this doesn't apply if there is no loudness normalization.
blizzy1978 -6 is super old school , very 2010’s ! Fortunately obsolete
@@chrisrevel2801 I was just picking numbers from thin air.
how do you send different versions to different stores when they send only one copy to every store?
So if I have soundcloud account snd spofity and I wanted to upload a the same track or song to both of them. I would have to make two versions, one for soundcloud and one for Spotify so Spotify won't over compress my song.? Am I correct or near correct? Also thank you for the video Def helped out more with understanding mix and mastering. Thank u
Hi, thanks for going over LUFs, peaks, dynamics, and all the good tidbits. I have a question. I use DP meter to analyze my LUFs and get my song to -14 but when I compare my song with a song of Drake’s, for example, his sounds significantly louder at least 3dB louder, I’ve downloaded his song off of iTunes put it into ProTools measured the LUFs and it was only -14.3. Why does a mainstream artist track sound so much louder?
Can you do one on layering synths and eqing them to fit please
Great idea!
LUFS for spotify are so confusing! In using limiters, saturation, removing unnecessary low end, everything I can think of to get the most out of my volume and I have to reach about -8 or -9 LUFS in order to compete with other songs in the same genre on Spotify. What am I doing wrong? If I upload my loud file Spotify will just turn them down
Any idea why the LUFS doesn't get louder when I'm using the gain? Thanks for the vid!
I really like Wave Hammer in Sound Forge software.
Thanks for sharing!
super useful video, i do have a question though:
Spotify says: "The web player and 3rd-party devices (e.g. speakers and TVs) don’t use loudness normalization."
Does that mean that it can't be mastered perfectly for all listeners - web and app users?
hey. what is the deal w/ loudness range?
Well, although my max peak is lower than -5 dB, my LUFS always jump up into the positive area around 3 or 4. To get the LUFS down to -5 I have to lower the volume to a maximum peak of - 13 dB. How come?
Qual a quantidade de lufs que eu aplique na minha master que minha música fique boa em todas as plataformas digitais
Sem eu ta masterizando minha música para cada plataforma digital
Definitely the most straightforward tutorial. Thank you very much. God bless
Glad you liked it!
what can I do to lower my true peak if it's high in the mastering stage. have a track a 3db over. do i have to go back in the mix?
ALSO! im planning on starting to upload my releases privately on youtube before releasing a public version on youtube, and even before submitting my songs to my distributor from now on. to see how the typical algorithms normalize the sound. thought someone else might find this helpful by adding this to their standard practice from now on.
It could be a great experiment. Let us know if this strategy helps :)
I'm having a really weird issue with music I put up using DistroKid. I checked a box on their service to apply a normalizer thinking my tracks weren't loud enough only to receive an email that they were and the normalizer wasn't applied.
However, I noticed the opening crash cymbal on a couple songs gets cut down super drastically but all the other crashes (that are literally the same the songs are simple loops with a crash cymbal I copied and pasted to transition to different parts) are fine.
Does this have to do with LUFS (Distrokid claims it does) or does this sound like they added the normalizer despite saying they wouldn't?
Great video and really helpful! So to understand we export two versions one for the preview of Spotify etc and another version with - 7db lufs for when People download ing the actuall file from Spotify or beatport?
No. You upload the same version and the platforms take care of things where relevant. This videos information is incorrect.
@@jakphoto yep; it seems you master loud - for Beatport/clubs, and you never have to even think about LUFS as the platforms do it themselves 🤷♀️
so, I don't quite get this vid in that case. Am I missing something?
Quick question, I reach the streaming platform lufs targets based on my loudness meter but my songs are still quieter than other professional songs. People told me i don’t use enough compression/saturation etc. But what tool could show me that i’m still below some levels since I can hear that I’m not loud enough ?
Go beyond the target because the target is for end users and not for mastering music. This video is propagating bad information. That's why your song is still quieter.
Great content as always. So great to learn so much from you. Ah and... Did you move? :-D
Thanks! No, didn't move....just moved the camera! Shake things up a bit :)
Hi Will, and thanks for explaining this so clearly! I've just finished to master my own album, it's just piano solo and piano + clarinet and strings (please take Olafur Arnalds as a reference), so it's quite low. I applied some compression and I reached -18/-17 LUFS (integrated, in each track) with a true peak at -1 dB. I don't feel like compressing it more because if I try it starts to sound unnatural to my ears. Would you say that this could be a problem on Spotify? Will it sound too quiet?
Thanks in advance and greetings from Italy!
Hi Alessandro...I would say the first thing is always, always the quality of the sound. If your music doesn't sound good compressed more, then don't compress it more!
Yes, why this obsession that music has to be loud?
Hey sir say if my track is hitting around 17 how to bring it down to at least -6-10 lufs
how about lufs-I and lufs-S in logic pro analyzer
so nothing will happen if youlean loudness meter says that it peaks at +0.5 db ?
Is that track from your student on Spotify? Sounded great!
how did you set the pick limit , not clear
Hey Will, thank you very much for the video. A well detailed video about LUF's. Can you do a video about doing arrangements for beginners. What kind of elements come in breaks or how to make a huge break but still not loose the power of drop.
You're welcome, and great idea! In the mean time, this should help ;) ruclips.net/video/-KUB4_YXE0w/видео.html&
Now, digital distributors take only 1 mastered file i should upload. Why should i make different masters for different platforms?!? Where do i submit them?
Hey thanks for the info! I'm mastering a track for spotify right now and on my Waves WLM im hitting -18 LUFS overall and -17 max.
If I use the built in limiter in the WLM plugin and boost about 4.0 db or so with the true peak limiter set to -1.0 to hit -14 LUFS consistently, will spotify then "ruin" my track dynamics when I upload it to them since I'd be going over -14 LUFS at some points in the song due to the 4.0 boost or would the limiter being set to -1.0 be enough to prevent spotify touching the track too much?
I appreciate the advice!
Spotify will first prioritize lowering the overall volume of your track so it never exceeds -1dB true peak levels. Meaning, your track wi probably sit at levels just a little lower than -14 LUFS. If normalization is turned on at normal settings, Spotify will never limit your track.
Thank you for this explanation. But please not everyone who writes or produces music likes "in yer face, Head Banging EDM".
What if you have a solo singer songwriter with an acoustic guitar?
Serious question. once you achieve -14 lufs with a maximizer/compressor, are you suggesting that you should export your track to within a fraction of 0db peak?
I allow -6db headroom and that's about comfortable listening level for me,
cheers
You're welcome! 🙂
Thanks for the clear explanation! But i have a question cause i master my music with ozone9 and i set it to -14lufs and -1db peak level but the other songs out there sound alot louder... so should i boost the lufs level and the peaks or what should i do? Thanks in advance
Dude, I have the same problem! I master my tracks to the specs on soundcloud, -14 LUFS at -1 db true peak, but my tracks always sound quieter than everyone else's. I'm about to throw that -1db out the window and start limiting to 0db to see how that sounds.
I was hoping he was going to explain that..
Yeah man doesn't make sense at all.... i started maximising the levels and see what it could reach and it worked! 0db true peak and LUFS can reach -8LuFS with no prob🙌 so just master like that🤙🤙
@@arkane5170 Yes, apparently -14 LUFS is kind of a safe area. You can push it upto -7 or -6 LUFS without any problem with 0+ Peak DB. The one thing to look out is just, Distortion.
Most EDM tracks are mastered on around -5 /-3 LUFS or even higher and that's probably why they seem louder to you. mastering that loud is useless, cos when you distribute it to spotify the volume is been taken down a lot, and it doesn't sound that good (remember you have to kill your dynamics to make the track louder, and a track with no dynamics will only sound good when it's loud)
is that plugin compatible with fruity loops?
are all my samples in splice overdistorted or something ? i realized i was having very quiet mixes when i bounced out my files so i decided to do some loudness metering , and come to find all my kick samples are eating up so much space in the mix . a kick playing by itself soleley at -3 db un eq'd is topping out at around -9 to -10 lufs . . thats already -4 to -5 lufs of negative gain that spotify is lowering my finished mix to JUST from kick alone . how can i fix this without butchering my kick samples or is it something i just have to deal w weaker kicks to have a good sounding mix overall . this topic is so confusing
This LUFS targeting with different masters for different platforms is, sorry to say, bull. If you send the loudest master everywhere, you're done. You don't send a different master to each service. I listen to RUclips Music. I've heard plenty of fresh releases reading -7 to -5. You think they sent a quieter master to Spotify? Hell no. A single file went to the distribution services and any changes in volume were made on an automated, individual basis by those platforms. Please stop propagating this nonsense!
thank you! I suspected the -14 thing was bullshit.
Does spotify worry about peak levels?
Which distributor allows you to upload different versions to either Spotify and Beatport ? Thanks :)
NONE. And if there is one, you don't need it because this idea of different masters to different platforms is entirely incorrect.
@@jakphoto can you elaborate on this ?
What about a track with 40 LUFS integrated? How coul;d be drop down to 14?
Hi there, If these values are average track volume why did you just loop the loudest part of the song? This will not return the same value as if you played through the whole song and surely would not be the songs correct LUFS-I value for the platforms you are uploaded to no? Please let us know. The diagram used in this video followed by looping an isolated section to get a reading are not consistent to my eyes. Thanks a bunch
but one question: HOW DO YOU MEASURE THE LUFS? I MEAN ARE YOU SETTING YOUR MASTERVOLUME TO MAX TO MEASURE THE LUFS , OR ELSE IT DOESNT MAKE SENSE, OR DOES IT??
Hi, thanks for the video.. just a question..?
I read that spotify is requiring a true peak -1db if the LUFS integrated is -14.. but if you go louder than -14LUFS integrated then you should have a true peak of -2db... do you consider these indications or you just keep the true peak at -1db however or less than that..? this is what I'm trying to solve.. thanks..
You should not consider any request of Spotify. You should master for it to sound good to you and not a meter.
@@jakphoto thanks
Question from a completely different genera. I’m currently working on a recording project featuring a solo harp artist. Would the ‘rules of thumb’ regarding Db levels for Spotify apply in that instance too?
yes
How is it possible to master music that loud without lots of distortion and clipping?
its super confusing to me. for a typical upload to spotify for example, what levels do i aim for for each reading? generally speaking
1- What's the difference between LUFS & RMS?
2- The Integrated LUFS in my EDM Tracks are around (-5.5 to -5)
is that loud enough? or should i push it little more?
1) RMS is the average of the sound over the time, indeed lufs is how actually loud is the song
2) you have to push the loudness until it is clipping, because whrn it going to clipping you have to stop.
I often push my song to - 3,3 lufs
@@axxel9626 its already clipping at -5 lufs
@@marceldhaini3363 so you have to check again you mix, and try to re-do the leveling, and balance more the sound, then tell to me if it is clipping anymore! 😉
I got a question:
Does a file 16 bit and 24 bit make any difference? I mean, if I do upload a track 16 bit does it have any difference with the 24 bit?
I know this is late but, No, It doesn't matter how much bit you give Spotify. Streaming services downgrade it According to their Subscription Plans. But, Obviously the Higher you give them the Better. Go for 24 Bits. That way if a user with a Subscription that supports 24 bits would play your music, They would benefit from it as they would get their 24 bits. Hope I made it clear. Cheers!
Spotify usually asks for 16 bit 44.1 kHz
where can I find this song by your student, do you have a link?
Sure! open.spotify.com/track/7L6huAnPILv5iLZMA03Nmu?si=H00V6CyKSU-tKHjOdss2iw
Explained well. One thing I have noticed is that on Spotify, there some big swings in volume track to track.... so what figures? Anyone else noticed this?
You might have the loudness normalisation turned off. So does half of the people who are using Spotify. That's why - I believe - mastering for -14 dB LUFS is hurting yourself - big artists have their tracks mastered for -6/-5 dB LUFS on Spotify - if you have normalisation turned on - it will get turned down to -13/-14 dB LUFS. But if you turn the normalisation off - you will listen to the actual volume of the master - if it's -6 dB LUFS it will be that. If you upload your track at -14 dB LUFS and have normalisation turned off - your track will be at -14 dB and other will be at -6 dB. That's why some tracks are super loud comparing to others.