Loudness normalisation is a streaming service turning every song or episode up or down to the same average loudness, so listeners don't have to reach for the volume between tracks.
See how much Spotify and Apple Podcasts would turn your file up or down.
Also used in: Audio Polish, Track Ready Checker
Because services normalise, mastering louder no longer makes a track stand out: it is simply turned down to the same level as everything else, keeping only the side effects of heavy limiting. Spotify normalises music to -14 LUFS on its default setting, -11 LUFS on Loud (with a limiter) and -19 LUFS on Quiet.
A quiet track is raised only as far as its true peak allows, keeping 1 dB of headroom, so a very quiet master may still play a little quieter. Apple Podcasts plays episodes at -16 LUFS. YouTube and Apple Music publish no target figure.
Two singles reach a playlist: one mastered at -7 LUFS, the other at -13 LUFS with more dynamic range. With normalisation on, Spotify turns the first down 7 dB and the second down 1 dB, so they play at the same level, and the second keeps its punch while the first sounds squashed.
The artist who mastered for the platform's level, rather than for the loudest possible meter reading, gets the better-sounding result.
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