This is by far the simplest and most understandable tutorial on this topic on RU-vid. 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
@@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?
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
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!
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 RU-vid 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 RU-vid) 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!
Thank you. I recently uploaded a track to RU-vid which was an extremely loud master but it's completely quiet in RU-vid. 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
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
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.
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.
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.
@@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?
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.
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?
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.
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 RU-vid 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!
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?
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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.
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?
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,
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
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!
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
Nothing you are doing everything right if it doesn't distort and it sounds good and loud to industry standards you are doing it right I would not listen to some of these youtubers they are incorrect on what they are talking about.
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..
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)
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
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?
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.
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.
Something I can't get my head around - I asked my distributor if it is possible to submit different masters of one single track: one for Spotify/streaming services with a LUFS which flies below the gain compensation threshold, and one much louder, -7 dB LUFS competitive master for Beatoprt/Juno etc, for the DJ market - the answer is 'no' you can only submit one master. So it begs the question, if I am creating dance floor music for DJs but also want an ideal listening experience for the streaming services, how loud should my masters be? I have to choose a preference between download or streaming?
It should be fine uploading loud masters, usually I master to around -9 lufs and the streaming services will automatically reduce the volume down to -14 the only thing is that the louder you go the less dynamic range you will have but usually I like to master as loud as possible without exceeding -3db or so of gain reduction on the limiter.
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??
@@EDMTipsYes on STEREO imaging... Like i know everything about Phase and how to make sound *STEREO* But i don't how to use its in real life full Project......... *Like How to actually use Stereo imaging*
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!
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.
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 saw you didn't get an answer here but if you didn't find an answer already I'll answer it for you. It doesn't actually go to 0.1, anything above 0.0 gets squashed down and audible digital distortion is added to compensate. If it looks like your master is peaking at 10 db actually its still just hitting a 0.0 db peak level and the +10db is turned into distortion. People use limiters to squash down peaks that go above 0 db without creating digital distortion.
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
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
So how come there is still difference when volume normalization on Spotify is enabled? Justin Bieber is -12LUFS (Original master at -7 LUFS, not -14 so really loud), some other songs I checked -15 LUFS? This means the Bieber track will sound louder than if you master specifically for Spotify. I have to say it's a bit of a mystery. In theory I completely understand it, but in the real world it turns out there's still quite a difference.
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.
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!
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?
You literally just turn it down. BUT the real advice is, leave it at -4 if you like how it sounds. This idea of different masters to different platforms is misinformation.
Things are making more sense for me now. But what if you upload with a distributor like distrokid that sends it to multiple stores? Apple Music wants -16LUFS and Spotify wants -14LUFS, and RU-vid says -13LUFS.
These are just targets. You don't have to hit the mark perfectly. If your track is louder, two things will happen: Your dynamic range is reduced, because you made it that way. Second, your track will be played at less volume to be perceived as loud as any other track.
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!
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?
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?
