Free · runs in your browser
Loudness penalty calculator.
Drop a mix or a master. It is measured on this page, and the table under the reading says how far each platform that publishes a loudness target turns the file down, in LU. Nothing is uploaded.
Analysing
Could not read that file.
The loudness penalty
What each platform will do to this file.
Every figure above is arithmetic on your own reading and a target the platform publishes in its own words. The quotes and sources, and what being turned down does and does not change.
- Integrated
- —LUFS
- True peak
- —dBTP
- Range
- —LU
Master this file to the target you choose.
Pick a loudness and a ceiling, hear the master level-matched against the file you just measured, and read the same numbers on the file you download. The preview is free and full length.
The arithmetic
Normalisation is subtraction.
A platform that publishes a −14 LUFS target plays a −9 LUFS master back 5 LU quieter than you made it. That difference is the loudness penalty. It is two numbers: your integrated loudness, and the figure the platform states in its own documentation.
Who publishes a figure
Two platforms and one standards body
Spotify: “We adjust tracks to −14 dB LUFS, according to the ITU 1770 standard.” SoundCloud: “Target the loudness level of your master at −14 dB integrated LUFS and keep it below −1 dB TP (True Peak) max.” AES TD1008 recommends −16 for a track and −14 for an album. Those are the rows the calculator prints.
Who publishes nothing
Apple, YouTube, TIDAL, Amazon Music, Deezer
None of the five publishes a loudness figure, so this page prints no row for them. A calculator that showed “Apple: 3.2 LU quieter” would be inventing the target it subtracts. What each one does say, quoted and dated.
Reading the result
Being turned down is not being made quiet.
Turning a −8 LUFS master down by 6 LU does not produce a −14 LUFS master. The limiting that got it to −8 — the density, the reduced range, the way transients sit — is in the file and survives the gain change. The penalty is a playback level. The master is still the master.
It is also not always applied. Spotify’s own documentation says normalisation is off on its web player and on third-party devices, and that a Premium listener can pick Loud, Normal or Quiet. A file that reads below the published targets is left where it is by default rather than turned up, so it sits quieter than the records beside it in a playlist. Which of those you want is a decision about your record; the calculator only tells you the size of it.
Questions
Questions about the loudness penalty.
What is the Spotify loudness penalty?
The difference between your integrated loudness and Spotify’s published −14 LUFS, when your file is louder. A −9 LUFS master is played back 5 LU quieter with normalisation on. Spotify also asks that a master louder than −14 LUFS keeps its true peak below −2 dBTP.
Does a penalty mean my master is too loud?
No. It means it is louder than a published playback target. A club record, a hip-hop release and a film score are mastered to different levels on purpose, and normalisation changes the playback gain rather than the file. The number tells you the size of the trade, and the trade is yours to make.
Why is there no row for Apple Music or YouTube?
Because neither publishes a loudness figure. Apple publishes a true-peak requirement and no LUFS value; YouTube documents a “Stable Volume” setting with no figure. A row for either would be a number this site made up.
Is a louder master pointless because of normalisation?
No. Turning a −8 LUFS master down to −14 does not produce a −14 LUFS master: the limiting that got it to −8 is in the file and survives the gain change. Normalisation is also not always on — Spotify’s documentation says it is off on its web player and on third-party devices. How loud to master is a real decision with real consequences.
Is my file uploaded?
No. The file is decoded and measured in your browser and never leaves it. There is no server call and no copy kept; close the tab and it is gone.
How accurate is the reading?
Integrated loudness follows ITU-R BS.1770-4 and loudness range follows EBU Tech 3342, the same methods the mastering engine uses. Checked against ffmpeg’s ebur128 meter on the fixtures this site tests, the page reads within 0.25 LU on integrated loudness and to the reported decimal on true peak. True peak is oversampled four times through a windowed-sinc filter rather than the standard’s own filter table, so read it as a headroom check rather than a compliance certificate.
Then choose
Master it to the level you decide on.
Four loudness targets, three true-peak ceilings, and the reading you just took on the file that comes back. The preview is free and full length, level-matched against your mix.