What is integrated LUFS?

Integrated LUFS (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale) is the average perceived loudness of an entire track measured by the ITU-R BS.1770 / EBU R128 algorithm. Streaming services measure your master's integrated LUFS and turn it up or down to match their target, which is why a louder master does not stay louder after normalization.

How does loudness normalization change my peaks?

Normalization is just a gain change. If a platform targets -14 LUFS and your master is -8 LUFS, it turns you down by 6 dB, so your true peaks also drop by 6 dB. If your master is quieter than the target, the platform turns you up, raising your peaks and potentially pushing them above 0 dBTP unless you left headroom.

What true-peak ceiling should I master to?

A widely used safe ceiling is -1.0 dBTP, and -2.0 dBTP for lossy-codec safety. Lossy encoders (AAC, MP3, Ogg) can overshoot the sample peaks by up to roughly 1 dB, so leaving 1–2 dB of true-peak headroom prevents inter-sample clipping after encoding.

Should I just master everything to -14 LUFS?

Not necessarily. Match the loudness to the genre and the music, not to a number. Many platforms only turn loud masters down, not quiet ones up, so over-compressing to hit a low target can cost you dynamics for no loudness benefit. Use the target as a reference, and let the song's dynamics lead.

What are the common platform LUFS targets?

Typical integrated LUFS targets are Spotify -14, Apple Music -16, YouTube -14, Amazon Music -14, Tidal -14, and broadcast EBU R128 -23. These are normalization reference levels, not hard limits, and a few platforms also enforce a true-peak ceiling around -1 to -2 dBTP.

LUFS Headroom & Peak Budget Calculator

A practical mastering tool that answers two questions at once: how much will a streaming platform turn my master up or down, and will that change push my true peaks past the ceiling? Enter your measured integrated LUFS and true peak, pick a target, and the calculator shows the normalization gain and the resulting peak budget.

How it works

Loudness normalization is just a single gain change applied to the whole track:

Gain change (dB) = Target LUFS − Measured LUFS

Post-normalization true peak (dBTP) = Measured true peak + Gain change

If your master is louder than the target, the gain change is negative (turned down), and your peaks drop with it — clipping is never a risk in that direction. If your master is quieter than the target, the gain change is positive (turned up), and your true peaks rise. If those raised peaks exceed your chosen ceiling (commonly -1.0 dBTP), the platform either can’t fully normalize you or you risk inter-sample clipping after lossy encoding.

The tool also reports your current peak headroom (the gap between your true peak and 0 dBTP) and the recommended limiter ceiling so the post-normalization peak lands exactly on your safety target.

Worked example

Your master measures -9 LUFS integrated with a true peak of -0.3 dBTP. Targeting Spotify’s -14 LUFS:

Gain change = -14 − (-9) = -5 dB (Spotify turns you down 5 dB)
Post-normalization true peak = -0.3 + (-5) = -5.3 dBTP — comfortably safe

Now flip it: a quiet master at -18 LUFS with a true peak of -0.5 dBTP targeting -14 LUFS:

Gain change = -14 − (-18) = +4 dB (turned up 4 dB)
Post-normalization true peak = -0.5 + 4 = +3.5 dBTP — over the ceiling, so the codec may clip. To stay under -1.0 dBTP after a +4 dB lift, the master’s true peak should have been at or below -5.0 dBTP.

Tips

Master to a true-peak ceiling, not a sample-peak ceiling. Sample peaks can hide inter-sample overshoots that true-peak metering catches.
A ceiling of -1.0 dBTP suits most platforms; use -2.0 dBTP when lossy codecs and aggressive normalization combine.
Loudness is perceptual — pair this with the equal-loudness contour tool to understand why a -14 LUFS pop master and a -14 LUFS classical master feel very different.

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