Has the loudness wars ended?

The Death of the Loudness War The loudness war is basically over. Loudness has finally been defeated. However, with the boom of streaming services like YouTube, Spotify and Apple Music, for the average listener using streaming services, loudness simply doesn’t affect them anymore.

Should I master to 14 LUFS?

The best mastering level for streaming is an integrated -14 LUFS, as it best fits the loudness normalization settings of the majority of streaming services. Although other measurements like the true peak value and other metrics need to be considered, -14 LUFS is the best mastering level when considering loudness.

Do LUFS really matter?

The Loudness Penalty is real – it affects the way people hear our music, and that affects the way they feel about it, and that’s important. Loudness normalisation is here to stay – the sooner you understand it and start working with it instead of fighting against it, the better your music will sound.

What caused the loudness war?

Because of the limitations of the vinyl format, the ability to manipulate loudness was also limited. Attempts to achieve extreme loudness could render the medium unplayable. Digital media such as CDs remove these restrictions and as a result, increasing loudness levels have been a more severe issue in the CD era.

Are Dynamics dead in popular music?

Michael, are dynamics dead in today’s popular recordings? I’d say that in most non-classical recordings, the answer is yes. Load any CD into your workstation and look at the resulting waveform. If you go back to those classic recordings, compression was almost non existent.

What is a good loudness range?

-9 to -13 LUFS
Regarding loudness, A good setting would be from -9 to -13 LUFS with the dynamic range reading on LEVELS not exceeding 8DR. With over 100 million people using Spotify, it’s crucial to make sure your music is heard in its best light. Consider this, the loudest your music will ever be heard on Spotify is about -14 LUFS.

Is LUFS bad for Spotify?

As long as they aren’t overprocessed. They also shouldn’t be much quieter than −14 LUFS. You should leave at least 1 dB of headroom. Though Spotify recommends mastering louder tracks to −2 dB true peak.

Why do some songs sound louder than others?

The tracks play at the same perceived loudness level, but the loud (or “peak”) parts of the more dynamic track will be much louder. You might not hear it, but it adds to the loudness. If you listen on a non-linear playback system, tracks that have more energy in the frequencies your system lifts up will sound louder.

Why is the music louder than the singer?

Check your audio settings, such as “Mixer”, “Effects”, etc. Many times there are “3D Audio” settings or something similar, that will cause background sounds to appear much louder. Also, if your sound card has different “surround sound” options/settings that could cause a problem as well.

Why did Spotify go to -14 LUFS?

Spotify just recently reduced their playback level from -11 LUFS integrated to -14. Meaning they simply turned down their target level by 3dB / 3LU. The reason they are doing this is for user experience. One of the number one complaints from users is inconsistencies in volume. Loudness management works to remedy this.

Are the loudness wars finally coming to an end on Spotify?

Good news, with Spotify’s latest announcement, the loudness wars may finally be coming to an end. So what does this mean for producers? It appears as if Spotify have decided to join the majority of online streaming platforms and reduce their streaming target loudness from -12 LUF to -14 LUFS!

How loud is audio on Spotify and YouTube?

Spotify and Youtube stream audio at around -14 LUFS. If a track has a loudness level of -9.5 LUFS (like AC DC Back In Black) both streaming platforms will decrease the volume of that track to around -14 LUFS. This is GREAT news.

What is Spotify’s loudness normalization?

Spotify uses “Loudness Normalization” by default. It adjusts the playback level of all songs so you don’t have to keep adjusting your volume control. Which means that a genuine pop classic like “Billy Jean” will play at the same volume as the flat, fuzzy distorted mess that is Cheryl Cole’s new single.