What integrated LUFS actually tells you

Integrated LUFS is the loudness over the full duration of a track, weighted to approximate human hearing and gated to ignore very quiet sections. It is the metric streaming platforms use to decide whether to turn your track up or down. It is the metric you should care about.

The values that matter

Platform	Approximate target
Spotify	-14 LUFS
Apple Music	-16 LUFS
YouTube	-14 LUFS
Tidal	-14 LUFS
Broadcast (EBU R128)	-23 LUFS

If your track is louder than the platform target, the platform attenuates it. There’s no loudness prize.

What MixLab reports

The Analyzer reports an approximate integrated LUFS. It is not a certified BS.1770-compliant meter — it’s a tightly-correlated proxy that uses RMS with a small offset that lands typical pop/rock material in the right ballpark. For production submission masters, use a certified meter. For everyday mixing decisions, it’s within ±0.5 LU of the certified value on most material.

What this means in practice

• Above -10 LUFS. You’re over-loud for streaming. The platform will turn you down by 2–4 dB, and you’ll have lost dynamics for nothing. Pull back.
• -14 to -10 LUFS. Modern loud. Streaming-safe. Sounds full but you might be giving up transients. Verify on a dynamic reference.
• -16 to -14 LUFS. The streaming pocket. Most engineered mixes today land here. Comfortable, full, transients intact.
• Below -16 LUFS. You’ll sound quieter than reference tracks on streaming. Fine for some material, bad for most modern releases.

What integrated LUFS does not tell you

• It doesn’t tell you about peak level. Use true peak for that.
• It doesn’t tell you about dynamics. Use crest factor.
• It doesn’t tell you about tonal balance. Use the spectrum.

Loudness is one axis among many. The mistake most home producers make is treating loudness as the goal. Loudness is the target. The goal is everything else.