FNLZ Studio Academy / How to Master a Song for Spotify
How to Master a Song for Spotify
Spotify normalizes loudness, applies its own limiter on hot tracks, and rewards balanced, dynamic masters. Here is how to prepare a song that sounds great on Spotify — every time.
Spotify's loudness target
Spotify normalizes playback to roughly -14 LUFS integrated. Tracks louder than that are turned down; tracks quieter than that are turned up (with a safety limiter).
True-peak ceiling
Spotify recommends a -1 dBTP ceiling to avoid inter-sample peaks distorting on lossy playback. FNLZ Studio defaults to this.
File format Spotify wants
Upload your distributor master as 24-bit WAV at your project sample rate (44.1 or 48 kHz).
How loud should your master be?
Aim for the loudness your genre demands at the source. If you over-limit past Spotify's threshold, the platform turns you down anyway — and you lose dynamics for nothing.
Mastering your track in FNLZ Studio
Upload the mix, choose a genre profile or upload a Spotify reference, preview, and export. FNLZ Studio applies streaming-safe loudness automatically.
Frequently asked questions
What LUFS should I master to for Spotify?
Around -14 LUFS integrated with a -1 dBTP ceiling matches Spotify's normalization target without triggering its limiter.
Will Spotify turn my master down?
Only if you exceed -14 LUFS integrated. A properly mastered track stays at competitive loudness without being penalized.