Welcome to Streaming-Ready Loudness Mastering

You just made the best investment in your mastering career. Here's how to get the most out of your membership:

Your Course

Head to the Loudness Mastering Course — it's structured sequentially so each lesson builds on the last. Don't skip ahead. The fundamentals in Chapters 1–2 are what separate amateur masters from professional ones.

What You'll Walk Away With

• Exact LUFS targets for every major streaming platform

• A repeatable mastering signal chain you can apply to any genre

• The ability to deliver masters that translate on every playback system

• A certificate of completion after passing the final knowledge check

Members Chat

Use the chat to post your before/after screenshots, ask questions about specific metering readings, or get feedback on your masters.

Quick Start Checklist

• Start Chapter 1, Lesson 1

• Set up your metering plugins (LUFS meter + true peak meter)

• Pick a track you've mixed recently — you'll use it for practice

• Introduce yourself in the Members Chat

Let's get to work. 🔊

If your tracks sound noticeably quieter than everything else on Spotify, Apple Music, or YouTube — the problem isn't your mix. It's your loudness targeting.

The Core Issue

Every major streaming platform normalizes audio to a specific loudness standard:

If your master comes in at -20 LUFS, Spotify won't turn it up — it just plays quieter than everything around it. The listener hits skip.

The Fix (3 Steps)

1. Get a proper LUFS meter

You need integrated LUFS, short-term LUFS, and true peak readings. Free options exist (Youlean Loudness Meter). No excuses.

2. Target -14 LUFS integrated

This is the sweet spot for most platforms. Master to -14 LUFS with a true peak ceiling of -1.0 dBTP. Your track plays at the same perceived volume as every commercial release.

3. Set your limiter's true peak ceiling to -1.0 dBTP

Not 0 dBFS. Not -0.1. Set it to -1.0 dBTP. This prevents intersample peak distortion when the platform's codec re-encodes your audio.

The Mistake Most Producers Make

They master as loud as possible (-6 to -8 LUFS) thinking louder = better. On streaming platforms, the algorithm just turns it down — and now your over-compressed, dynamically flat master sounds worse than a properly targeted one.

Loud mastering for streaming is a losing strategy. Target the spec, preserve your dynamics, and let the music breathe.