Mastering is the final step before your music reaches listeners. It's where you ensure your track translates well across every playback system, sounds competitive alongside commercial releases, and meets the technical requirements of streaming platforms. Here's the complete process.
Before You Start: Is Your Mix Ready?
Mastering cannot fix a bad mix. If your mix has problems - muddy low end, harsh frequencies, poor balance between elements - fix those in the mix first. Mastering enhances a good mix, it doesn't rescue a bad one.
Export your mix at the highest quality. Bounce your mix as a 24-bit WAV or 32-bit float WAV at your project's sample rate (44.1kHz or 48kHz). Never master from an MP3 - you lose quality that can't be recovered. Leave at least -3dB to -6dB of headroom on the master bus (no limiter, no clipping).
Use a reference track. Find 2-3 commercially released tracks in a similar genre that sound the way you want yours to sound. Import them into your mastering session (muted during processing, unmuted for comparison). A/B your master against the references regularly throughout the process. This is the single most valuable mastering technique.
The Mastering Chain
A mastering chain is the series of processors applied to your stereo mix, in order. Keep it simple - most professional masters use only 3-5 plugins. More processing isn't better processing.
1. Corrective EQ
Listen to your mix on multiple playback systems (headphones, monitors, earbuds, car speakers) and compare to your reference. Note any frequency imbalances - too much bass, not enough brightness, a harsh mid-range resonance. Use a linear-phase EQ for gentle, broad corrections. Cuts of 1-2dB maximum - if you need more than that, go back to the mix.
Common mastering EQ moves: a gentle high shelf boost around 10-12kHz for "air" and openness, a subtle low-end rolloff below 30Hz to remove inaudible sub-bass that wastes headroom, and a small dip anywhere that sounds harsh when compared to your reference.
2. Compression (Optional)
Mastering compression glues the mix together and adds a subtle sense of cohesion. Use a slow attack (30ms+), auto or medium release, low ratio (1.5:1 to 2:1), and aim for 1-2dB of gain reduction maximum. If you're compressing more than 2dB in mastering, the mix needs work.
Not every master needs compression. If your mix already sounds cohesive and well-balanced, skip this step entirely. Unnecessary compression reduces dynamics for no benefit.
3. Saturation (Optional)
A touch of tape or analogue saturation adds warmth and harmonic richness. This should be barely perceptible - if you can hear it as an effect, it's too much. Use a tape emulation plugin set very subtly. This is especially useful for digital productions that sound clean but "cold."
4. Limiter
The limiter is the final plugin in the chain. It catches peaks and brings the overall level up to your target loudness.
Set the ceiling to -1dB true peak. This prevents inter-sample clipping when streaming platforms convert to lossy formats (MP3, AAC, Ogg Vorbis). Some engineers use -0.5dB or -0.3dB, but -1dB is the safest option and what Spotify recommends.
Push the input gain until you reach -14 LUFS integrated (measured with Youlean Loudness Meter or your DAW's built-in metering). Watch the gain reduction meter on the limiter - 2-4dB of gain reduction on peaks is fine, more than 6dB means you're pushing too hard.
Loudness Targets by Platform
Spotify: Normalises to approximately -14 LUFS. Masters louder than this get turned down. Masters quieter than this get turned up (if the user has "Loud" mode enabled).
Apple Music: Normalises to approximately -16 LUFS with Sound Check enabled.
YouTube: Normalises to approximately -14 LUFS.
Amazon Music: Normalises to approximately -14 LUFS.
Tidal: Normalises to approximately -14 LUFS.
The practical approach: Master to -14 LUFS integrated with a -1dB true peak ceiling. This is optimal for the majority of streaming platforms. Your music will sound its best on Spotify without being turned down or losing dynamics.
Export Settings
Format: WAV, 16-bit, 44.1kHz. This is the standard for digital distribution. Your distributor (DistroKid, TuneCore, CD Baby) will handle any further format conversion needed by individual platforms.
Dithering: If you're converting from 24-bit to 16-bit (which you should be for the final export), apply dither. Most DAWs have a dither option in the export dialog - use POW-r Type 1 or TPDF noise shaping. Dither prevents quantisation distortion when reducing bit depth.
Leave the filename clean: ArtistName - TrackTitle.wav. No special characters, no version numbers in the final export.
Common Mastering Mistakes
Over-limiting. Crushing the limiter to make the track as loud as possible was necessary for CD. For streaming, it actively hurts your music. Spotify turns it down anyway, and you lose all dynamics in the process.
Mastering in the same session as mixing. Export your mix, close the project, open a fresh session, and import the stereo mix file. This forces you to listen with fresh ears and prevents you from reaching back into the mix during mastering.
Not checking on multiple systems. Your master might sound perfect on studio monitors but harsh on earbuds or bass-heavy in the car. Check on at least 3 different playback systems before finalising.
Skipping the reference track. Without a reference, you're mastering blind. Your ears adapt to whatever you're listening to - a reference resets your perception and keeps you honest.
When to Hire a Professional: If your track is being commercially released and you want it to compete sonically with major-label releases, consider professional mastering. A mastering engineer with a treated room and calibrated monitors will hear things you can't. Services like LANDR offer affordable automated mastering, but a human engineer will always deliver better results for important releases.
🎛️ Learn Mastering Step by Step
Our Mixing Tutorial includes a full mastering module covering the complete chain from start to export. Or check our home mastering guide for more detail on room treatment and monitoring.
All the best - the Born To Produce Team ✌️
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