ANSWER · MASTERING & EXPORT
What Loudness Do Clubs Want Compared With Streaming?
“What loudness do clubs want compared with streaming platforms?”
Clubs want tracks mastered loud, typically between -6 and -10 LUFS integrated, so every record sits at the same level in a DJ mix without gain riding. Streaming services normalise playback to around -14 LUFS, so a loud master is turned down there and a quiet one is left alone or turned up. Club Ready Music's default of -8 LUFS is a club master.
Why club masters are loud
A DJ plays records back to back from different labels and eras. If one is 6 dB quieter than the rest, the DJ must push its channel gain, which eats headroom and can clip the mixer. Labels solved this years ago by mastering club releases to a consistent loud level. Today that level is about -8 LUFS for house and techno, a little louder for big-room and bass music, and a little quieter for deep and melodic styles.
Loud does not mean distorted. A good club master hits the target with a true-peak limiter set to -1 dBTP so the file never clips on conversion to MP3 or on the player's output.
Why streaming masters are quieter
Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Tidal, Amazon and Deezer normalise every track so listeners do not reach for the volume between songs. Their reference levels sit around -14 to -16 LUFS. A track mastered at -8 is turned down about 6 dB on playback; a track mastered at -14 plays as it is. Because the loud master is turned down, the extra limiting bought nothing and may have cost dynamics. That is why engineers master a streaming version quieter.
Side by side
| Destination | Typical target | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Club, festival, DJ USB | -6 to -10 LUFS | Matches other records in the mix |
| Big-room, bass, hard styles | -6 LUFS | Genre convention; dense sound |
| Deep, melodic, downtempo | -10 LUFS | Keeps dynamics and warmth |
| Spotify, Apple, YouTube | -14 LUFS | Platform normalisation level |
| SoundCloud | -14 LUFS equivalent | Normalised on most playback paths |
| Broadcast radio | -23 LUFS (EBU) or -24 LKFS (ATSC) | Broadcast standards; station processing applies |
Which one to deliver
If a track will be played by DJs, deliver the club master. If it will only live on streaming, deliver the streaming master. If both, make two files and label them. The club version is what goes in a DJ pack or on a USB; the streaming version is what goes to a distributor.
How Club Ready Music handles it
Every generated track and DJ edit goes through a two-pass loudness normalisation with a true-peak ceiling of -1 dBTP. The default target is -8 LUFS. In the Studio's Master and export section you can choose Club max -6, Club -8, Festival -10 or Streaming -14, or type any integrated value between -20 and -4. The same control is in DJ Edit, so an uploaded song can be leveled to match the rest of a crate. Bass below 120 Hz is summed to mono by default, which helps a loud master translate on club systems.
Because the chain measures first and then normalises, the output lands on the target rather than near it, and a crate of Club Ready Music files plays back at one consistent level.
Frequently asked
Why not master everything at -14 LUFS?
In a DJ mix the quiet track sits 6 dB below the others and the DJ has to ride the gain, often into the red. Club releases are loud so every record lands at the same level with the trim at zero.
What does Club Ready Music default to?
-8 LUFS integrated with a -1 dBTP true-peak ceiling. Presets cover Club max -6, Club -8, Festival -10 and Streaming -14, and any value from -20 to -4 can be typed in.