MASTERING Q&A // DO YOU NEED A DIFFERENT MASTER FOR EACH STREAMING PLATFORM?

If you’ve found this blog because you googled this question, let me save you a bit of time by giving it to you straight: fuck no, you do not.

I know what you’ve seen on YouTube. I know what you’ve read on gearspace.com. I know what some person posted in your “mastering pros” facebook group. I am here to tell you something that you likely already know: the internet can be a terrible resource. I love the internet, but oftentimes there’s simply too many opinions from too many people that don’t have real world experience. I’m inclined to call it an echo chamber, except echo chambers are cool. It’s more like a room of parrots. 

“But Spotify says we need to submit it at -14 LUFS with -2 true peak! And Apple says -16 LUFS! And if it’s not I WILL BE PENALIZED.” 

Yes I know, it’s scary. You better obey or they will fuck your shit up! All the hard work down the toilet. 

Except…it’s not exactly accurate. The part that holds true is that yes, every streaming platform sets forth mastering targets and guidelines, and they all vary from each other. But they are only that - targets. They are not requirements. And they are largely ignored by any professional mastering engineer that knows what they’re doing. The whole idea of mastering a song to a particular target LUFS is really not really the best approach or how it even works - but that may make for an interesting blog post for another time. 

To get back to the original topic - no, you do not need a different master for each platform. That would take a ridiculous amount of time (and money). There are far too many platforms and targets out there. You only need to master your tracks so that they sound good, and most of the time that means they are going to be off target.

“But WAIT! Won’t I be PENALIZED for going over the targets?” 

No. If your track is over the target, they simply turn it down.

“But WAIT! They’re turning it down? That’s bad, right? How is that not a penalty??”

All tracks are volume adjusted. Everyone’s - not just yours. It’s an attempt at normalization, which is a method to get all tracks across the platform to play at a similar volume. 

For example, if your master measures at -8 LUFS (which is a more realistic measurement), Spotify, which has a target of -14 LUFS, will turn it down (normalize) by -6 LUFS. While this process is sometimes referred to as a “loudness penalty”, I feel this phrase is very misleading, as this is a standard practice that affects all audio that is distributed across streaming services. Your master is only being adjusted to their normalization standard and is not being compressed, limited, or going through any type of processing or alteration. 

You only need one master for all streaming platforms. Your master can (and likely will) be off target and outside of streaming services guidelines, and they will adjust accordingly, and without penalty. 

Hopefully you find this helpful!
This can all be a bit much to navigate, especially if you don’t have much experience.

Mastering is so much more than just audio processing + sweetening - which in my view is all the more reason to hire a professional: they help to bring you peace of mind !

; )