Spotify loudness norms [UPDATE]

This post has been updated because in 2021 Spotify changed their loudness norms.

Spotify uses a loudness reference for normalising the loudness of a track. This way the tracks played in Spotify will sound more or less even in loudness.

UPDATE: Spotify no longer uses a limiter for the Normal setting. They DO apply positive gain for masters being lower than -14 LUFS but ‘leave 1 dB headroom for lossy…