How to Get Your Music Ready for Streaming and Radio

How to Get Your Music Ready for Streaming and Radio

The short answer: master your music to around -14 LUFS integrated loudness for streaming, deliver a separate master at -16 to -18 LUFS for broadcast radio, export both as 24-bit WAV files at 44.1 kHz or higher, and confirm your metadata is embedded before you upload or submit. Doing those four things correctly will stop the platforms from mangling your sound and give radio engineers something they can work with.

Table of Contents

1. Why Streaming and Radio Have Different Requirements
2. Loudness Standards You Need to Know
3. File Formats and Sample Rates
4. The Mastering Process Step by Step
5. Checking Your Master Before Distribution
6. Metadata, ISRC Codes, and Delivery Details
7. Doing It Yourself vs Hiring a Mastering Engineer
8. Conclusion

Why Streaming and Radio Have Different Requirements {#why-different-requirements}

Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and YouTube Music all use loudness normalisation. When you upload a track, the platform measures its integrated loudness and turns the playback level up or down so that every song on the service sits at roughly the same perceived volume. Spotify targets -14 LUFS. Apple Music targets -16 LUFS. YouTube normalises to -14 LUFS as well. If your master is louder than the target, the platform attenuates it. If it is quieter, it is brought up. The platform does not remix or re-equalise your track; it simply adjusts gain. That means a hyper-compressed master that was slammed to -7 LUFS will be turned down considerably, and all that compression you used to make it loud will still be audible as squashed dynamics, not as power.

Broadcast radio works differently. South African commercial stations follow SABC technical standards, and most commercial broadcasters internationally align with the EBU R128 recommendation, which targets -23 LUFS for broadcast or -16 LUFS for music programming with a true peak ceiling of -1 dBTP. Radio also involves additional processing at the transmitter. Stations run their audio through broadcast processors that apply multiband compression and limiting. A master that is already heavily limited will interact badly with that chain and can sound harsh, distorted, or fatiguing on air. Radio engineers prefer masters with some dynamic range left intact.

The practical consequence is that a single master cannot optimally serve both channels at the same settings. Professionals typically produce at least two masters: a streaming master and a broadcast master, sometimes labelled as a radio edit if the track also needs to be shortened.

Loudness Standards You Need to Know {#loudness-standards}

Loudness in modern audio is measured in LUFS, which stands for Loudness Units relative to Full Scale. It is a perceptual measurement that correlates better with how humans experience volume than peak decibel readings do.

Here are the targets that matter:

True peak is separate from integrated loudness. True peak measures intersample peaks, the transients that occur between digital samples and can cause clipping in digital-to-analogue conversion even when your DAW meter shows no clipping. Keep your true peak at -1 dBTP or lower. Some engineers prefer -2 dBTP for extra safety on compressed audio.

For most independent artists targeting streaming first, mastering to -14 LUFS integrated with a -1 dBTP ceiling is a solid general target. For a track with a lot of dynamic variation such as a ballad or an acoustic piece, -16 LUFS may actually sound more natural, and Apple Music will not turn it up aggressively.

File Formats and Sample Rates {#file-formats}

The format you deliver determines how much quality survives distribution.

For distribution masters: Export at 24-bit, 44.1 kHz WAV as a minimum. If your session was recorded at 48 kHz or 96 kHz, you can deliver at 48 kHz. Distributors like DistroKid, TuneCore, and Amuse accept 44.1 kHz and 48 kHz WAV files. Some accept FLAC. Do not deliver MP3 to your distributor. MP3 is a delivery format for consumers, not a source format for distribution.

For radio delivery: Some stations accept 44.1 kHz WAV. SABC stations have specific submission portals with their own technical requirements, so check those directly before submitting. Community radio stations in South Africa often accept 44.1 or 48 kHz WAV by email or FTP.

For streaming platform quality tiers: Tidal and Apple Music offer lossless playback. If you want your music to qualify for lossless on Apple Music, deliver at least 16-bit 44.1 kHz WAV. For Apple Music's hi-res lossless tier, you need 24-bit at 48 kHz or higher. Your distributor handles the transcoding, but only if you gave them a high-quality source file.

Never deliver a file that was converted from a lossy source. If someone sends you an MP3 mix, ask for the WAV or stems. Converting MP3 to WAV does not recover lost audio data; it only creates a larger file with the same quality ceiling as the MP3.

The Mastering Process Step by Step {#mastering-process}

Mastering is the final stage of audio processing before distribution. Done properly, it balances the frequency spectrum, controls dynamics, optimises loudness, and ensures the track translates across playback systems.

Step 1: Start with a proper mix. Mastering cannot fix a bad mix. Your mix should have headroom of around -6 dB on the master bus, no clipping, and no mix-bus limiting (unless that limiting is an intentional creative choice you want preserved). Export your mix as a 24-bit WAV.

Step 2: Reference on multiple playback systems. Before mastering, listen to the mix on studio monitors, headphones, a Bluetooth speaker, and in a car if possible. Note what needs addressing: is the low end too heavy? Are the vocals sitting back? These are mix issues. Fix them in the mix session, not in mastering.

Step 3: Apply corrective EQ. In the mastering session, use a linear phase or minimum phase EQ to address broad tonal imbalances. Cut frequencies that are masking clarity before boosting anything. A high-pass filter to remove rumble below 30 Hz is almost always useful.

Step 4: Apply gentle dynamic control. A mastering compressor with a low ratio, slow attack, and slow release can glue a mix together without audibly compressing it. For more aggressive styles like hip-hop or EDM, more compression is appropriate. Multiband compression can address specific frequency ranges without affecting the whole signal.

Step 5: Limiting to target loudness. A transparent limiter raises the overall level while preventing true peaks from exceeding your ceiling. Set your true peak ceiling to -1 dBTP and bring the gain up until your integrated LUFS meter reads your target. Do not over-limit. If you have to push so hard that you hear audible pumping or distortion, the mix needs more headroom or dynamics work.

Step 6: Export at full resolution. Export your streaming master at 24-bit WAV. Export a broadcast master at the same format with a slightly lower loudness target and, if required, a shorter true peak ceiling.

Checking Your Master Before Distribution {#checking-your-master}

Before you upload anything, run through these checks:

• LUFS measurement: Use a metering plugin or standalone tool like Youlean Loudness Meter (free) or iZotope Insight to confirm your integrated loudness and true peak.
• Spectrum analysis: Check that the frequency balance looks reasonable and that there are no unexpected resonances or steep dropoffs.
• Mono compatibility: Sum the track to mono and listen. If the low end disappears or the mix sounds hollow, there is a phase issue that needs addressing in the mix.
• Playback systems test: Listen on at least three different systems after mastering. Consumer earbuds are particularly revealing for hi-frequency harshness.
• Silence check: Confirm the track has a clean start with no loud pops or preamplifier noise, and that it fades or ends cleanly.
• Loudness normalisation simulation: Some metering tools let you simulate how the track will sound after platform normalisation. This shows whether your compression choices still make sense at the normalised level.

For artists working in South Africa's independent scene, understanding how audio mastering services work for local artists can help you decide whether a professional engineer makes sense for your budget and timeline.

Metadata, ISRC Codes, and Delivery Details {#metadata-and-delivery}

Metadata is how platforms and royalty collection organisations identify your music and route payments to you. Missing or incorrect metadata costs money.

Embed in the file: Most WAV and FLAC files support metadata fields for track title, artist name, album name, year, and genre. Use a tool like MP3Tag (which also handles WAV) to embed these before delivery.

ISRC codes: An International Standard Recording Code uniquely identifies each recording. Your distributor usually assigns ISRCs, but you can obtain them directly through your country's ISRC agency. In South Africa, the Recording Industry of South Africa (RISA) manages ISRC allocation. Keep a record of every ISRC you are assigned. These codes are how platforms match streams to royalty payments.

ISWC codes: These identify the underlying composition and are managed through your Performing Rights Organisation. In South Africa, SAMRO handles this. If you are both the songwriter and the recording artist, you need both an ISRC for the recording and an ISWC for the composition.

Radio submission requirements: When submitting to radio stations, include a one-sheet with the track title, artist name, genre, BPM, key, ISRC, contact details, and a short biography. Many stations also want a high-resolution artist photo and social media handles.

If you also license beats or instrumentals, the type of licence you hold affects how you can register royalties. Understanding the difference between exclusive and non-exclusive arrangements matters here. See our article on exclusive vs non-exclusive beats for a full breakdown of what each licence type allows.

Doing It Yourself vs Hiring a Mastering Engineer {#diy-vs-professional}

The honest answer depends on your equipment, your ears, and your budget.

DIY mastering works reasonably well when: you have a treated listening environment, a reliable set of studio monitors, a good metering plugin, and you are distributing to streaming only where the platform normalises everything anyway. Tools like iZotope Ozone, Waves Abbey Road TG Mastering, and Landr's AI service can produce acceptable results for independent releases.

A professional engineer is worth the cost when: you are submitting to radio, pitching to sync licensing opportunities, releasing a full album where consistency across tracks matters, or when the mix has problems that need an experienced second pair of ears to diagnose. A mastering engineer also brings room calibration, analogue hardware options, and years of comparative listening that no plugin replicates.

Decision checklist:

For independent artists in South Africa, local mastering engineers understand the regional broadcast requirements and can tailor masters for both local radio submissions and international streaming distribution simultaneously.

Conclusion {#conclusion}

Getting your music ready for streaming and radio is a process with specific technical requirements at each stage: loudness targets that differ by platform, file formats that preserve quality, metadata that protects your royalties, and a mastering chain calibrated to the destination. A master aimed at -14 LUFS for Spotify and a separate one at -16 LUFS for radio, both delivered as 24-bit WAV with embedded ISRC codes, covers the majority of distribution scenarios an independent artist faces. Whether you handle mastering yourself or work with an engineer, meeting these specifications is what separates music that sounds professional on every system from music that sounds right only in the studio where it was made.