![]() LUFS are also used by streaming services to measure the loudness of songs. Meeting specific LUFS values is now a requirement in TV and radio broadcast, as per the EBU R128 standard in Europe and the ATSC A/85 standard in the USA. LUFS (loudness units full scale), were developed by the International Telecommunications Union to create a standardized way of measuring loudness. So how do streaming platforms determine how much they need to alter the level of songs by… What is the LUFS standard? It’s worth keeping in mind though, that if you compare a dynamic song to a heavily compressed song, both played at the same level, the compressed song is likely to sound smaller or weaker in comparison to the song with a greater dynamic range. How much compression/limiting you apply is a subjective decision. The benefit that this gives you as a music maker is that you no longer have to compromise the dynamic range of your songs to ensure that they’re not quieter than others. As the streaming platforms would simply turn the track down to play at the same level as everything else. ![]() ![]() Even if someone did master their songs really loud, their efforts would be in vain. Is the loudness war over?īecause of loudness normalization in streaming, it’s no longer possible for someone to try and make their songs louder than everyone else’s. Since the advent of loudness normalization in streaming, however, this has become less of a problem. The problem is that the more you apply compression/limiting to achieve such loudness, the more you compromise the dynamics. Typically, we tend to think that louder music sounds better. Tracks were produced loud in an effort to compete with all of the other tracks that were also being mastered loud. This loudness often came at the cost of both dynamic range and sound quality. The loudness war as we know it today was a trend that started around the mid-’90s, whereby tracks were mastered at increasingly loud levels. Many cite the use of loudness normalization in streaming as something which has ended ‘ the loudness war‘… The loudness war Nor will they damage their hearing if the song that they had already turned up fairly loud is followed by a track that was mastered significantly louder. That way, listeners don’t have to adjust the volume at the beginning of every song. The 2000s track would likely playback substantially louder.Īs such, streaming platforms apply gain adjustments so that songs play back at a consistent level. Say you’re streaming a song from the ’60s, followed by a song from the 2000s. That’s because songs from different genres and decades have been mastered to greatly varying levels of loudness. That’s because, at the touch of a button, you can now listen to tracks from any genre, and any decade. Loudness normalization in streaming is important. Since the late 2010s/early 2020s, streaming services have used loudness normalization to manage the playback level of the songs on their platforms. Loudness normalizationĪ key factor that has changed the way we master music in recent years is loudness normalization. Plus, we’ll talk about why, contrary to popular belief, you shouldn’t be aiming for -14 LUFS.īefore we go any further, if you want to make better music in your home studio, then be sure to download your free home studio bundle here (EQ cheat sheet, compression cheat sheet, & vocal guide). ![]() We’ll cover the loudness war, loudness normalization, and measuring loudness in LUFS. In this lesson, we’ll discuss the issues surrounding loudness in mastering in the era of streaming. The loudness of tracks is an area of mastering which has evolved a lot over the years.
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