Tutorials Podcasting

What Is LUFS and How Loud Should My Podcast Be

Beginner · ~20 min

Overview

LUFS is the loudness unit used by every major streaming platform to normalise audio so that all content plays back at a consistent perceived volume. Get this right and your podcast won't sound quiet next to other shows, or harshly loud when listeners use auto-volume on their phones.

What You Need

A finished podcast episode (WAV or MP3)
Audacity (free), or any DAW with an integrated loudness meter
Optional: a free LUFS meter plugin like Youlean Loudness Meter

Steps

Understand what LUFS measures

LUFS (Loudness Units Full Scale) measures the perceived average loudness of audio over time, not the peaks. Unlike dBFS, which only measures instantaneous signal level, LUFS accounts for how humans hear loudness across a whole programme. −16 LUFS sounds about the same subjective volume as a television news broadcast.

Learn platform loudness targets

Each platform has a normalisation target. Spotify: −14 LUFS. Apple Podcasts: −16 LUFS. YouTube: −14 LUFS. If you submit at −14 LUFS, Apple Podcasts will turn you down. If you submit at −19 LUFS, Spotify will turn you up. Mastering to −16 LUFS is a sensible middle ground. It's the most commonly cited podcast standard.

Measure your podcast's loudness

In Audacity: select your entire track → Analyze → Contrast to get an approximate measure, or install the Youlean Loudness Meter plugin for a proper integrated LUFS reading. Load your exported episode and play it through the meter from beginning to end. Note the Integrated LUFS value.

Normalise to target in Audacity

Select your whole track → Effect → Loudness Normalization. Set the target to −16 LUFS. This applies a uniform gain adjustment to the whole episode so that the integrated loudness hits the target. This is not the same as clipping or compression. It's a single, clean gain pass.

Check your true peak ceiling

After normalising, check that your true peak doesn't exceed −1 dBTP. True peak is different from sample peak. It accounts for inter-sample peaks that can clip during codec encoding. In Audacity: Analyze → Find Clipping. If you have peaks above −1 dBTP, apply a −1 dB limiter before exporting.

Pro Tips

Apply LUFS normalisation as the very last step, after all EQ, compression, and noise reduction is done.
Never boost audio that was too quiet at recording time with LUFS, all you'll do is raise the noise floor. Fix the gain before mixing.
Use our Podcast Level Meter to check your mic level in real time before recording.

Knowledge Base

What You'll Learn

Measure and normalize podcast loudness to LUFS standard. Understand why -16 LUFS matters for platform distribution. Use loudness meters to achieve consistent volume across all platforms.

Understanding LUFS

LUFS (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale) measures perceived loudness over time. Different from peak level (-6 dB peak can be -16 LUFS or -23 LUFS average depending on dynamic range).

Platform Standards

Apple Podcasts & Spotify: -16 LUFS (short-term average).
YouTube: -14 LUFS (video standard).
Broadcast/EBU: -23 LUFS (European broadcast standard).

Metering Tools

Youlean Loudness Meter: Free, accurate, simple.
FabFilter Pro-Metering: Professional suite with loudness measurement.
Waves WLM Plus: Industry standard, cloud-based loudness database.

Workflow

1) Mix your episode to natural volume. 2) Load loudness meter on master output. 3) Check integrated loudness (full episode average). 4) If lower than target (-16 LUFS), gain up all tracks 2-4 dB. 5) Re-measure. 6) Repeat until -16 LUFS achieved. 7) Export.

Where This Fits

This guide covers one specific part of mixing and colour. The wider picture. The full mix workflow from gain staging and balance through bus processing and knowing when to stop, is in Mixing a Full Song: From Rough Levels to Final Bounce, which frames the discipline as a whole and links out to the detailed guides underneath it, including this one. If you are starting from scratch rather than solving a specific problem, read that first and come back here.

FAQ

Q: If I mix to -16 LUFS, will it sound quiet on Spotify?
A: Spotify normalizes all podcasts to -16 LUFS. Your episode will play at same loudness as others.