New Music Gear Monday: MeterPlugs Loudness Penalty Plugin

Many mixers have been confused about the LUFS levels that they should be delivering to the various streaming networks, and while this isn’t the big deal that many believe it is, there’s a new tool that should take some of the confusion out of the process. Mastering engineer Ian Shepherd’s company MeterPlugs has developed a new plugin called Loudness Penalty that will analyze your mixes and provide feedback as to what it will sound like on the most popular streaming platforms.

Some LUFS Background

A little background first. LUFS is an international scale for measuring loudness that uses an algorithm that closely matches how we hear. It was instituted primarily to counter complaints about television commercials being a lot louder than the normal program, even though the meter levels read the same for both. As anyone who’s used a compressor knows that if you squash a program enough, it will sound a lot louder at the same meter reading than a program that’s not compressed. LUFS takes care of that, and television now has very strict rules about allowing a program to air that exceeds a LUFS level of -23 (a station could lose its license if it does).

In order to get around output levels varying with each song, streaming services have adopted a LUFS target as well. Apple Music’s is -16LUFS, and Spotify, YouTube, Pandora and Tidal are -14 (the AES standard is -16).

What this means is that no matter how loud or quiet a song is when uploaded to Spotify (for instance), the level will be adjusted so it plays at -14 LUFS. You gain nothing by making your mix the loudest thing on the planet as the level will be turned down. In fact, it will sound a lot worse than a mix a -18 with lots of dynamic range that has to have its level increased!

With all that being said, some engineers have been confused with how to deal with the different target levels, and that’s where Loudness Penalty comes in. The plugin tells you how much your music will be adjusted (usually turned down) by YouTube, Spotify, TIDAL, Pandora and Apple’s Sound Check. Now you can spot the moments that trigger the biggest penalty and tweak your mix as needed. The best part is that you can listen to what your mix will end up sounding like on each platform!

Now keep in mind that most mixers and mastering engineers working on major label product don’t pay attention to these streaming platform settings as CDs are still being released, so that’s the level they’re aiming for. Also remember that you don’t gain much by sending an optimized LUFS mix to a distributor like CD Baby or Tunecore, since the platform ultimately does all the level matching in the end regardless what you send.

That said, it’s worth it to see and hear what’s going to happen to a mix before you submit it so you’re not surprised later, and that’s where the Loudness Penalty plugin shines.

MeterPlugs Loudness Penalty plugin normally sells at $49 but now carries a 40% introductory discount, so it’s just $29. You can find more info or purchase it here. Check out the video below.