I don't know if young people (I'm 65) realize how truly blessed they are to be in this time of technology. Everything from the reasonable cost of computer recording, plugins at crazy low prices, and to me the biggest thing, RU-vid where we can watch videos like yours, and learn from start to finish, how to mix, master (lufs) and share our music. My first experience with recording was in 1985, with my Yamaha 4 track. Man, how things have changed since then... I wish I were 30 years younger, so I could have more years to experience all of this wonderful technology. I want to thank you again for another great video, Sean. Cheers!
I do, I was talking with a friend the other day and he said he would have loved to be alive during the 80s and 90s making music, I was like "no chance, recording to a 4 track tape then re recording the groups again and again sounds like hell to me" Even if I know it sounds better 😅
You are the only person in the audio engineering field that I have ever seen take the time to explain how things operate. You being in your prime is indeed a blessing. We are appreciative of your generous sharing of your vast knowledge.
one of your best videos hands down. there aren’t a lot of videos that really dive into how streaming platforms work for artists and you answered questions i’ve had for years
I totally agree. Simply one of the best, if not the best breakdown of do’s & don’t’s in todays market. Thank you Sean. Definitely one of my top 3 gurus in music making. 🙏🏾😌
Wow seriosuly thank you! I'm about to distribute my first self-mixed and mastered song and I almost made it way quieter out of fear of Spotify distorting or compressing it for being higher than -14 LUFS, but now I feel more comfortable
I hope you have taken care of the true peaks. when converting between AAC 126kbps and OGG in Spotify, chances are that if you haven't taken care of this... your song is clipped over 1,000 times.
Also to say that Greek companies, the years from 2010 and now, when remaster oldies for compilations, they use eq to the song and cut many highs or add more bass, and increase loudness extreme for example when song in a 90s compact disc was -14LUFS, the "remastered" is -9LUFS, waveform is so flat and big, many peaks are cut. And as source they don't use the original master tape but just a lossless file from a compact disc.
Thanks for the video. LUFS drive me crazy. I always hear different things from different people. My first album was mastered in a studio at -14 LUFS and it's more quiet than everything else on the streaming platforms and it drives me nuts. Now that I'm doing my own mastering, I've been trying to kick it up but I'm paranoid about doing too much and losing dynamics when it gets nerfed on the platforms. I've uploaded singles that have been mastered in different ways. I'm getting ready to take those down as I'm about to finish up a new album, all mastered on the same timeline. Hearing you explain that -9 to -11, or so, will be just fine makes me feel a lot more confident. Appreciate the video.
Sean, you’re the first person to explain this so well, regarding LUFS! The only remaining exception, kind of recently, is a requirement for specifically Apple Music, specifically Spatial (or Atmos) ADM BWF surround wav file, which has to be at 24/48 -1 true peak and -18 LUFS.
Great tutorial thanks so much for clarifying the LUFS situation. So good to see how Spotify actually applies the -14?etc and the relevance and at times irrelevance of it.
Hey Sean, hope you’re doing well! Just wanna say thanks for making this video! It answered a lot of questions I had on the topic and gave some extra info I would never thought of (meta data). Thanks man!
This is about the most informative video I've seen. Thanks a lot for this video Sean. Being having a lot of issues with my mastering these days but this video just gave me a leap on
That first tip is something that NOBODY is saying. Super helpful, I've been so confused as to why songs on Spotify seem quite a bit louder the standards are all the same and now I know. Of course quality mixing has to do with it too but that is something I am working on.
When you said “liner notes”.. 😮💨 I was also really interested in the liner notes on the albums I’d buy. I love being able to attach your name to my music today. You’ve made me a much more confident artist in the past year! Thank you for that!
I found your music through a tutorial video of Sean's. Really enjoy your work, makes me jelly that I havent gotten to music vids yet. Whole new ballgame I've gotta learn. lol
@@geniustracks9213 you will! Don’t feel like you have to be “up to par” either. That slowed my journey down significantly! Don’t wait until you can get “the right camera”. Use the resources you have! Ultimately it’s all about the music! Good luck on your journey! I’m about to visit your channel now.
@@BubbyGalloway Ohh shit, thanks man. I dont advertise or nothing yet, still working out what my style will end up molding into as I create more. My stuffs all over the place/trying things out
I just wanna say that i appreciate you sharing with us over the years! Ive learned so much and have became really in tune with Mixing and also beat making! been my heart since i was young! I can relate so heavy with the way you explain things and i greatly thank you bro! i know the work that you have put in and its much respect bro!!! Blessings to you and the fam!!
Amazing tips as always SD! The tip about leaving space at the beginning of the track is a good one. And man if I had a dollar for everytime I opened an old session and a VST messed up I'd have at least $100 haha. Unrelated: "Tired Eyes" is an absolute BANGER!!!
Thank you so much, your videos are perfect. I didn't know that Spotify has the selection to normalize instead of having the LUFS of original master. However I think in commercial music -9 is ok , but better would be -10 or -11. Songs or Billie Eilish are -7 to -6.5 and sound so awfully distorted, same some songs of Taylor Swift are -8. In Greece, laiko songs from one specific company are -8 or -9 and sound so distorted like losing dynamic range. The other problem is that lowend nowadays is so powerful and many commercial songs lack of high end. Many times I hear boominess in some songs and drums hit so hard and awfully. I cancelled subscription on Spotify because they are listened extremely loud to me. I listen far better in RU-vid music but I don't know if the algorithm of yt normalizes or make these more quite, however they sound to me better.
Great video, thanks for the reminder on bouncing everything down on the last tip I used to do it and then got lazy and stopped in this was a great reminder to start doing that again in case my computer crashed etc
Thank you for mentioning the top of the files. A lot of the pros are cutting things right up to the first note and I hate that. I always do what you do. I like a natural feel from when the play button is hit to the actual start of the music. I also leave at least two seconds after the music ends.
Excellent video. Clearest explanation of loudness I've found, and that's saying something! Everything here is such critical information that everyone should know, but is often overlooked or not discussed at all. You're obviously an experienced pro. Take heed, people! Also, one cool thing I've discovered is the Codec feature in Ozone. You can instantly hear very clearly how your music is going to be affected by lossy encoding.
This is soo awesome sean great tips and information! Having notes in the session answered a question I had about using subscription based plugins. I know they sound good but if I no longer have access I don't want the mix to fall apart. Stems and notes should be a good resolution.
That is a good advice and I am taking that note on my recent project for my next song so that I do not forget. It was so confusing regarding with maintaining in a perfect LUFS. I made mistakes on my couple of songs, including one song that I checked Loudness Normalization on Distrokid, but it is about learning and growing little by little. I have a question regarding with Dolby Atmos Mixing. If I decided to Upload a Dolby Atmos/Spatial Audio, The Loudness for Dolby Atmos is to be maintained at no louder than -18 LUFS. Does it have to be perfectly at -18 LUFS? DO we have to do the same thing such as being around -12 to -8 LUFS for Dolby Atmos version of the music?
Thank you! This video is much needed! Well explained! Didn’t you deliver at -14 LUFS before Sean? I thought I remembered you saying that in older videos? May remember wrong
I know I've covered how to target specific integrated LUFS levels (be it -14 or otherwise). That's intended for reference though, not for delivery across different platforms.
Sorry, English is not my native language. I've been on the wrong path for so long now. How much I messed up my songs because of the -1 rule. How much better songs sound at -0.1 to -0.4 I find already noticeable. Thanks for your advice Bro.
One thing you seem to be missing: "If" you upload a master set to the platforms spec. They "may not" (check platform spec.) run it through the platforms encoder. Thus avoiding a processing your master. Always good to check this.
It's specific to how I have signals routed in my setup (my interface and the Clarity M). That being said, this could be a possibility for every setup in the near future ;)
i've noticed the the LUFs reading that i have when i upload is often different than what is shown in the analysis on distrokid, and that's before it even gets to the DSPs. distro usually reads it about 2 points higher than i had in the session
-1 TP is best practice when delivering to streaming to take into account the lossy conversion. If the master is done properly, will it make a noticeable difference? That’s more subjective :)
What takes place when Spotify increases the high frequencies?? I’ve had 2-3khz boosted by Spotify. It’s to the point that it’s very noticeable to anyone who listens to the file that was delivered vs what Spotify posts
Spotify does nothing to change the frequency curve. They’re played as delivered (with loudness normalization) unless the listener has the internal EQ activated.
When I publish my song on spotify and youtube, the volume gets drastically reduced (it sounds much quieter than others), i'm mastering at a reasonable volume (matching with other finished songs) and I even leave my true peak at -1, but it still sounds very quiet when published. What am I doing wrong?
This video should help - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-PvIdfkQVPrw.html. Perceived loudness and loudness measured by metering are not the same.
