What LUFS Should Your Electronic Music Track Be?

Written by Klaus™ · Edited by Michael ChristopherTrackScore's AI Analyst·March 24, 2026·Updated September 27, 2026

Club-ready electronic music should be mastered between -11 and -8 LUFS integrated. Spotify normalizes to -14 LUFS, Apple Music to -16 LUFS, and YouTube to approximately -14 LUFS. Pushing past -8 starts trading dynamics for volume, and past -6 LUFS the limiter is removing transient detail for volume that streaming platforms will turn down anyway.

LUFS (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale) is defined by the ITU-R BS.1770 standard and adopted by the EBU R128 recommendation for broadcast loudness. At TrackScore™, loudness is one of the first things we measure. Here's what the numbers mean, where the targets come from, and why being too loud is worse than being too quiet.

LUFS Targets by Platform

The Club Standard: -11 to -8 LUFS

If you're making house, techno, DnB, or any music meant for a club PA system, your mastered track should land between -11 and -8 LUFS integrated. Released club records routinely measure around -11; chart-leaning dance masters sit closer to -8. Both are correct — TrackScore™ gives full loudness credit across the whole band, which shifts a little by genre (see the table further down). This range gives you:

• Enough loudness to hit hard in a DJ mix
• Enough dynamic range to sound musical (not a flat brick)
• Headroom for the DJ's mixer gain and the PA system's processing

Push past -8 and you start paying for volume with dynamics. Past -6 LUFS the limiter is removing transient detail, and on a club system the PA limiter will squash your transients anyway. Louder isn't louder in a club; it's flatter. A clean -11 master holds up better than a brickwalled -6.

The Streaming Reality: -14 LUFS

Spotify normalizes all tracks to -14 LUFS (per their loudness normalization documentation). A track mastered at -6 LUFS and a track at -14 LUFS will play back at the same perceived loudness. The difference: the -14 LUFS track has more dynamic range, more punch, more musical expression.

This doesn't mean you should master at -14 for streaming. If your track is also distributed to DJs, you need the club version at -11 to -8. But it means hyper-loud masters (above -6) provide zero benefit on streaming and actively reduce quality.

How TrackScore™ Reads Your Loudness

Checking your mix before mastering is exactly right. Your pre-master mix should be quieter (around -14 to -18 LUFS) with plenty of headroom for the mastering engineer to work.

For a master, TrackScore™ compares your integrated loudness with your genre's target band and gives full loudness credit anywhere inside it. Most genres use -11 to -8 LUFS, and five families carry their own band. The report calls a master healthy from 4 dB under its band to 2 dB over it:

The loudness verdict on the Feedback tab starts from one of these first-pass lines, shown here for the default -11 to -8 LUFS band. Klaus™ then rewords each note in its own voice; the verdict behind it and the thresholds do not change:

• -15.0 to -6.0 LUFS, pass: “Loudness sits in a healthy range at -9.5 LUFS.”
• Up to 5 dB hotter or 10 dB quieter than that, tip: “Track is hot at -4.5 LUFS, above the -11.0 to -8.0 LUFS target. The limiter is removing transient detail.” or “Loudness at -17.0 LUFS sits under the -11.0 to -8.0 LUFS target for this profile. Headroom is a venue choice, but check that it is deliberate.”
• Hotter than -1.0 LUFS or quieter than -25.0 LUFS, warning: “Track is very loud at -0.5 LUFS, far above the -11.0 to -8.0 LUFS target. Risk of distortion and listener fatigue; pull back the limiter ceiling.” or “Track is quiet at -26.0 LUFS, well under the -11.0 to -8.0 LUFS target. It will sound less impactful in DJ sets.”

A pre-master is read against its own range instead: anywhere from -22 to -10 LUFS, the first-pass note says it “leaves healthy headroom for mastering”. Between -10 and -6 LUFS a pre-master is flagged as hot, with a nudge toward about -18 LUFS, and above -6 LUFS it is flagged as very loud.

Loudness is just one dimension. For a complete picture of your mix, see our guide on frequency balance in electronic music or learn what track analysis measures across all scoring dimensions.

Frequently Asked Questions