What are Loudness Targets for Mastering?

While I am not always a numbers engineer, I do find that within a specific genre I often master songs in a similar loudness range. The loudness level of a master can depend on a variety of factors, including the musical genre, artistic intent, and distribution platform. However, as a general guideline, a master should be loud enough to compete with other tracks in the same genre, while still maintaining sufficient dynamic range and musicality.

The most common loudness target for streaming services is the integrated loudness, which is measured using the LUFS (Loudness Units Full Scale) scale. This differs from RMS in that LUFS, the focus of the “loudness” is more tuned in to what human’s ear’s actually hear. The integrated loudness level represents the overall loudness of the track over its entire duration, and is typically measured using a loudness meter plugin.

While the specific loudness targets may vary depending on the streaming platform or service, some general guidelines for loudness targets by genre are as follows:

• Classical and jazz music: -16 to -14 LUFS

• Acoustic, folk, and world music: -14 to -12 LUFS

• Pop, rock, and electronic dance music (EDM): -10 to -8 LUFS

• Hip-hop, rap, and R&B: -10 to -6 LUFS

It is important to note that these loudness targets are not strict rules, and may vary depending on the specific track and the artistic intent of the mastering engineer and artist. Other factors such as dynamic range and tonal balance should also be taken into consideration when mastering a track, and the loudness target should not be the sole focus of the mastering process.