If you've been mixing to –6 dBFS peak on your master bus and calling it done, this article is for you. Peak metering was the standard when music went to tape and then to CD. It's not the right tool for streaming delivery — and it hasn't been for over a decade.
Here's what LUFS metering measures, why it matters for delivery, and how to read the numbers that streaming platforms actually use to normalize your audio.
The problem with peak meters
A peak meter shows you the highest instantaneous sample value in your signal. It tells you whether you're clipping. That's all it tells you.
Two tracks can both peak at –1 dBFS and sound dramatically different in perceived loudness. A sparse acoustic guitar has lots of dynamic range — its average level is well below its peak. A heavily compressed pop master sits near its peak level constantly. Same peak reading, completely different perceived loudness.
Streaming platforms normalize for perceived loudness, not peak level. If your master is louder than their target, they turn it down. If it's quieter, some platforms turn it up. That normalization is based on integrated loudness — an average over the program, not the peak.
Understanding what your meter is measuring tells you whether you're going to hit the target or miss it.
What LUFS measures
LUFS stands for Loudness Units relative to Full Scale. It's defined by the EBU R128 standard (and the broadcast equivalent, ITU-R BS.1770) as a weighted time-averaged measurement of signal energy. The weighting curve (K-weighting) emphasizes frequencies where humans are most sensitive to loudness.
There are three LUFS measurements you'll encounter:
Momentary LUFS
What it is: Loudness averaged over a 400-millisecond window, updated continuously.
What it shows: The loudness of the signal right now. Momentary responds quickly to transients and level changes. Watch it during playback and it tracks the dynamic movement of your mix.
When to use it: Real-time level monitoring during mixing. Momentary tells you how loud a specific passage is at this moment. It's closer to what your ear perceives on a moment-to-moment basis than a peak meter.
Typical range in mixing: A dense chorus section might push –8 to –10 LUFS momentary. A quiet verse might sit at –18 to –22. Swings are normal — that's your dynamic range.
Short-term LUFS
What it is: Loudness averaged over a 3-second window.
What it shows: A smoothed view of current loudness, less reactive than Momentary. Short-term irons out transients and gives you a better sense of how loud a section feels over a few seconds of listening.
When to use it: Checking section-to-section balance. If your chorus is running 6 LU louder than your verse on Short-term, that's the perceived intensity difference a listener experiences. Short-term is often more musically useful than Momentary for mixing decisions.
Integrated LUFS
What it is: Loudness averaged over the entire program from start to measurement. EBU R128 defines Integrated as the time-average of loudness above a gating threshold of –70 LUFS (absolute gate) and –10 LU below the ungated loudness (relative gate). Quiet passages below the gate are excluded from the average.
What it shows: The overall loudness of your program from start to finish. This is the number that streaming platforms use for normalization.
When to use it: Mastering and delivery decisions. When Spotify says they normalize to –14 LUFS, they mean Integrated. Your Integrated LUFS reading at the end of the song tells you whether you're on target, too loud, or too quiet.
How to read it: Reset at the start of playback, let the song run to completion, read the result. A properly mastered track for Spotify will land around –14 LUFS Integrated. A broadcast deliverable for Netflix might need to be –24 LUFS Integrated (program loudness) or –27 LUFS for dialogue-gated measurement.
True Peak and dBTP
What it is: True Peak (measured in dBTP — decibels True Peak) catches inter-sample peaks that standard peak meters miss.
When audio is encoded to a lossy format (AAC, MP3, Opus), the digital samples are reconstructed on playback. That reconstruction can create peaks between the original sample points that exceed the values your peak meter showed. These inter-sample peaks cause distortion after encoding even if your pre-encoding peak meter read –1 dBFS.
Why it matters: Every streaming platform encodes your master before delivery. Even if you upload a 24-bit WAV, the user receives AAC. True Peak tells you whether the encoded version will clip.
Target: Keep True Peak below –1 dBTP for streaming delivery. –2 dBTP if you're going to multiple platforms and want extra safety margin.
Loudness Range (LRA)
What it is: Loudness Range quantifies the statistical spread between soft and loud passages in your program. LRA is measured in LU (Loudness Units).
A high LRA (10–15+ LU) means your program has wide dynamics — quiet passages much softer than loud ones. Classical music, film scores, quiet singer-songwriter material will have high LRA. A low LRA (2–4 LU) means heavily compressed, dynamically limited content — modern pop, EDM, some broadcast material.
When it matters: Broadcast compliance. EBU R128 and Dolby Dialogue Intelligence use LRA as part of their loudness management. A film mix with very low LRA may fail quality control at delivery. LRA is also a diagnostic tool — if it's higher than you expect for the genre, you may have unintended dynamic inconsistencies.
Platform delivery targets
| Platform | Integrated LUFS target | True Peak max |
|---|---|---|
| Spotify | –14 LUFS | –1 dBTP |
| Apple Music | –16 LUFS | –1 dBTP |
| YouTube | –14 LUFS | –1 dBTP |
| Tidal | –14 LUFS | –1 dBTP |
| Amazon Music | –14 LUFS | –2 dBTP |
| Netflix (dialogue) | –27 LUFS | –2 dBTP |
| Broadcast (EBU R128) | –23 LUFS | –1 dBTP |
| Broadcast (ATSC A/85, US) | –24 LUFS | –2 dBTP |
These targets tell you where the platform will leave your audio level unchanged. Above the target, the platform turns it down. At or slightly below the target, you're in the pass-through zone.
The loudness war is over for streaming. Smashing your master to –6 LUFS Integrated means Spotify turns it down 8 dB. The compression and distortion remain; the loudness advantage does not. Mixing to reasonable dynamics and targeting –14 LUFS Integrated is the right approach for most streaming delivery.
For film, TV, and broadcast, the targets are considerably lower (–23 to –27 LUFS). Mixing for broadcast without an Integrated meter will result in rejection at delivery.
Summary
| Measurement | Window | Use for |
|---|---|---|
| Momentary LUFS | 400ms | Real-time monitoring, transient response |
| Short-term LUFS | 3 seconds | Section loudness, mix balance |
| Integrated LUFS | Full program | Delivery targets, streaming normalization |
| True Peak (dBTP) | Inter-sample | Preventing distortion after lossy encoding |
| LRA | Full program | Dynamic range, broadcast compliance |
Peak meters are not sufficient for modern delivery. If you're mixing and mastering for streaming platforms, you need Integrated LUFS and True Peak. Everything else is useful context.
Auxfeed includes Momentary LUFS and Short-term LUFS in the free tier — both update at 60fps per EBU R128, no subscription required. Auxfeed Pro adds Integrated LUFS with tap-to-reset, True Peak dBTP with color-coded warnings, Loudness Range (LRA), and platform presets for Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Netflix, and broadcast — running live on your phone while your DAW plays.