Loudness guide
Mastering for YouTube: don’t go under −14.
Short answer: YouTube turns loud videos down to about −14 LUFS and leaves quiet ones quiet. Master at −14 LUFS or louder, keep true peaks at −1 dBTP, and export the video with high-quality audio.
YouTube only turns loud videos down
YouTube measures the loudness of every video and turns loud ones down to about −14 LUFS, so listeners don’t have to reach for the volume. Unlike Spotify, it never turns a quiet video up. A quiet master simply plays quieter than the video before it.
| Your master | What YouTube does |
|---|---|
| Louder than about −14 LUFS | Turned down to about −14 LUFS. Content loudness shows a positive number. |
| About −14 LUFS | Plays as it is. |
| Quieter than about −14 LUFS | Plays as it is, quieter than other videos. YouTube doesn't turn it up. |
Integrated loudness. YouTube doesn’t publish its reference level; −14 LUFS is the widely measured value.
To check your own video, right-click it on YouTube and open Stats for nerds. “Content loudness” shows how many dB your audio sits above YouTube’s reference; a positive number is how much it was turned down.
How loud to master
Anything from −14 LUFS up plays at full level. Most music videos are louder, around −7 to −10 LUFS integrated, and are turned down; that costs nothing in level, only the punch the master gave up to get loud. So the rule is the same as for Spotify: as loud as the song stays punchy, never quieter than about −14. More in mastering for Spotify.
Measure your song before you build the video: the free loudness checker lets you check your song free, measured in your browser, nothing uploaded.
Encoding: AAC, Opus and video uploads
YouTube recommends AAC-LC or Opus audio at 48 kHz, in stereo, and it encodes the audio again for streaming. A music video usually goes through two encodes: one in your video editor and one on YouTube. Each can raise peaks a little and soften the highs. To keep the loss small:
- Put the 24-bit WAV master into the video project, not an MP3.
- Export with the highest audio bit rate your editor offers (for example 320 kbps AAC), or a lossless track if it supports one.
- Use 48 kHz if your editor works at 48 kHz anyway; a good sample-rate conversion doesn’t change the sound.
- Don’t add a limiter or normalise again in the video editor.
True peak
Keep true peaks at −1 dBTP. YouTube’s encoders can raise peaks slightly, and with an extra encode in the video editor the room helps. Loud masters at about −0.3 dBTP often survive too, but check the uploaded video for crackle on the loudest hits.
Mastering for YouTube online
MakeItSoundPro masters every song three ways (Gentle, Balanced and Bold) at the same loudness, and you compare them with your original at that loudness. Loud (about −8.5 LUFS in the loud parts, true peaks −0.3 dBTP) and Streaming (about −11 LUFS in the loud parts, true peaks −1 dBTP, available after any purchase) both play at full level on YouTube. You download a 24-bit WAV for the video project, a 320 kbps MP3 and a 30-second clip of the highlight for Shorts, Reels and TikTok. Your first three songs are free.
Releasing on streaming services too? See mastering for Apple Music, SoundCloud and how to master a song.
Questions
What LUFS does YouTube use?
YouTube plays videos at about −14 LUFS. It turns louder videos down to that level but never turns quieter ones up. YouTube doesn't publish the exact figure, so treat −14 as approximate.
Should I master to −14 LUFS for YouTube?
Not below it. A quieter master stays quieter than everything else on YouTube. Louder than −14 is fine: the video is turned down, and it sounds about as loud as other videos. Master as loud as the song stays punchy.
How do I see how YouTube normalises my video?
Right-click the video and choose Stats for nerds. Content loudness shows how far your audio is above YouTube's reference: a positive number means it was turned down by that much, a negative one means it plays quieter than the reference.
What audio format should I use in a YouTube video?
YouTube recommends AAC-LC or Opus audio at 48 kHz in stereo. Export the video with the highest audio quality your editor offers, or a lossless audio track if it supports one, since YouTube encodes the audio again.
What true peak should I use for YouTube?
−1 dBTP is the safe choice. YouTube re-encodes your audio to AAC or Opus, and encoding can raise peaks slightly. Your video editor may also encode the audio once before upload, so leave a little more room than for a direct WAV upload.