The loudness wars are over…on Spotify at least. The popular streaming service just announced that their new loudness target will be at -14 LUFS – down from a previous -12 LUFS.
What does this mean for producers? You’ll no longer have to worry about squeezing as much loudness as possible out of your masters. For fans, this means consistency – currently, TIDAL and Youtube are normalizing the majority of their streaming audio at -14 LUFS. With 3 major streaming services now normalized at -14, those posting to Soundcloud, Bandcamp, and Apple Music will most likely stick with the new “Spotify Standard” of -14 LUFS.
-14 LUFS is a sweet spot for music. The musicality shines and takes advantage of dynamic range, as opposed to the over-compressed, squashed sound of anything over -14 LUFS. Instead of focusing on how one can compress the life out of their song, producers can now focus on the musicality of their records – bringing more interesting music to our ears!
