Track not as loud as others?

We use loudness normalization to balance soft and loud songs, creating a more balanced listening experience.

We adjust tracks to -14 dB LUFS, according to the ITU 1770 (International Telecommunication Union) standard.

Here are some reasons why your music might sound quieter than other artists, or different to how you expected:

• A very dynamic track mastered to -14dB LUFS will have its peak levels preserved. If you compare it to a loudly mastered track (at - 6dB LUFS for example), its peaks get lowered to - 8dB LUFS. The tracks play at the same perceived loudness level, but the loud (or “peak”) parts of the more dynamic track will be much louder.
• If you shuffle your album or switch between tracks from different albums (such as in a playlist), track normalization gets used.
• Inaudible high-frequency in your mix can cause loudness algorithms (e.g. ITU 1770) to measure your track louder than it sounds (loudness algorithms don’t have a lowpass cut-off filter).
• If your master’s really loud (true peaks above -2 dB) the encoding adds some distortion, which adds to the overall energy of the track. You might not hear it, but it adds to the loudness.
• If you listen on a non-linear playback system, tracks that have more energy in the frequencies your system lifts up will sound louder. The ITU 1770 algorithm doesn’t know what audio playback system you’re using, so can’t compensate for non-linearity.