With more and more music tracks being delivered on services that now use loudness normalisation, we no longer need to compress the life out of a song to make it louder than any other track, because tracks that are too loud will just get turned down. We can now enjoy tracks with some dynamic range. In loudness workflows there is a new measurement Loudness Range. Tom Frampton a mastering engineer from Mastering The Mix explains what Loudness Range is and how to use it to help produce tracks with an appropriate amount of dynamic range.

You might have guessed that Loudness Range relates to the dynamics of your audio, but how can we use this measurement to help achieve our musical goals?

Definition of loudness range: Loudness Range [Measured in LU (loudness Units)] will tell you the statistical measure of loudness variation of your entire track. This long-term reading will give you an idea of the difference in volume between the verse, chorus and other sections of your track.

If there is a big difference in loudness between the various sections of your track then your loudness range will be a higher number.

If the loudness of the various sections in your track are very similar or equal, the loudness range will be smaller.

A loudness range between 6 LU to 12 LU shows that a track has a considerable difference in loudness between the various sections.

Tracks with a loudness range below 4 LU could be considered rather static in loudness.

As a general rule, I would recommend aiming for a Loudness Range above 5 LU if you wanted to create a track with tension, release and an epic chorus that explodes out of the verse. But this suggestion can be taken with a pinch of salt! If you’re aiming to create a track with a consistent energy throughout then, of course, you would end up with a lower loudness range.

Loudness Range isn’t like true peaks where most people can agree that clipping doesn’t sound good. Loudness range is subjective and totally depends on the material you’re working on.

Understanding what loudness range means can help you achieve your musical goals. For example, if you felt your chorus didn’t give the track enough of a lift, and your loudness range was a low reading, that might encourage you to add some automation to create a more dramatic dynamic difference. On the other hand, if you were looking to create a track with a relentless drive, or any other constant vibe, but your loudness range was over 5 LU, you might have missed the mark.

I’ve taken the average loudness range readings from various genres to give you an idea of what you might want to shoot for in your own productions. To find the loudness range, I’m using EXPOSE, an app we created at Mastering The Mix to quickly measure the technical details of bounced audio. You can do the same by downloading the free trial and assessing the technical details of your favourite mixes.

I’ve summarised the averages below with readings based on 10 well received tracks from a selection of genres. It’s worth noting the wide range of readings between the different tracks in the same genre. There is no right or wrong reading, but we can definitely give ourselves a ballpark idea by checking out these figures.

Pop: 6.4 LU Average

• Rita Ora - Anywhere : 4.5 LU

• Charlie Puth - How Long : 7.4 LU

• Niall Horan - Too Much Too Ask : 6.4 LU

• J Balvin - Mi Gente : 3.7 LU

• Camila Cabello. - Havana : 3.9 LU

• Dua Lipa - New Rules : 5.3 LU

• Sigala - Came Here For Love : 7.2 LU

• Beyoncé - Formation : 12 LU

• Rag’n’Bone man - Human : 7.1 LU

• Bruno Mars - 24k Magic : 6.7 LU

EDM: 5.9 LU Average

• Martin Garrix - Animals : 9.9 LU

• Martin Solveig - Intoxicated : 8.8 LU

• Calvin Harris - We Found Love : 6.6 LU

• David Guetta - Titanium : 6.2 LU

• Avicii - Wake Me Up : 4.9 LU

• Zedd - Clarity : 9.0 LU

• Bingo Players - Get Up : 3.3 LU

• Oliver Heldens - Gecko Overdrive : 3.0 LU

• Swedish House Mafia - Don’t You Worry Child : 7.7 LU

Rock: 5.6 LU Average

• Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit : 5.8 LU

• Guns N Roses - Sweet Child Of Mine : 5.8 LU

• AC DC - Back In Black : 5.6 LU

• Deep Purple - Smoke On The Water : 5.3 LU

• Bon Jovi - Livin On A Prayer : 3.9 LU

• Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name : 4.9 LU

• Blink 182 - All The Small Things : 4.4 LU

• Foo Fighters - Everlong : 7 LU

• Green Day - Basket Case : 6.7 LU

• Red Hot Chili Peppers - By The Way : 6.8 LU

Country: 7.6 LU Average

• Tammy Wynette - Stand By Your Man : 8.7 LU

• Johnny Cash - Ring Of Fire : 3.6 LU

• Dolly Parton - Jolene : 5.5 LU

• Garth Brooks - The Dance : 14.9 LU

• Conway Twitty - Hello Darlin’ : 8.2 LU

• Keith Urban - Blue Ain’t Your Colour : 4.5 LU

• Luke Bryan - Fast : 4.4 LU

• Dierks Bentley - Black : 9.6 LU

• Kenny Chesney - Bar At The End Of The World : 9.6 LU

• Sam Hunt - Take Your Time : 6.9 LU

Hip Hop: 4.0 LU Average

• Sugarhill Gang - Rappers Delight : 2.4 LU

• Grandmaster Flash - The Message : 4.1 LU

• Dr Dre & Snoop Dogg - Nuthin But A G Thang : 1.3 LU

• Notorious B.I.G - Juicy : 3.2 LU

• 2Pac - California Love : 2.9 LU

• 50 Cent - In Da Club : 2.1 LU

• Rob Base - It Takes Two : 2.2 LU

• Eminem - Lose Yourself : 12.1 LU

• JAY Z & Kanye West - Paris : 4.8 LU

• OutKast - B.O.B : 5.2 LU

R&B: 5.5 LU Average

• Kelis - Milkshake : 2.8 LU

• Bel Biv DeVoe - Poison : 2.4 LU

• R Kelly - Bump n Grind : 2.9 LU

• Blackstreet - No Diggity : 6.8 LU

• Montell Jordan - This Is How We Do It : 3.2 LU

• Crazy In Love - Beyoncé : 5.8 LU

• The Weeknd - Can’t Feel My Face : 6.1 LU

• Rihanna - Needed Me : 10.2 LU

• Drake - One Dance : 10.3 LU

• Amerie - 1 Thing : 4.0 LU

House: 5.3 LU Average

• Hot Natured - Benediction : 3.6 LU

• Eric Prydz - Generate : 6.8 LU

• Eats Everything - Dancing : 7.8 LU

• Second City - I Wanna Feel : 4.9 LU

• Gorgon City - All Four Walls : 6.9 LU

• Leandro Da Silva - I Love House Music : 4.1 LU

• Camelphat - Cola : 6.6 LU

• Oliver $ - Pushing On : 3.5 LU

• Ed Ed - I Got : 4.6 LU

• FormatB - Chunky : 4.2 LU

Electronic: 7.2 LU Average

• James Blake - I Need A Forest Fire : 15.2 LU

• Daft Punk - One More Time : 5.0 LU

• Fat Boy Slim - Praise You : 7.2 LU

• Pendulum - Tarantula : 8.6 LU

• Gorrilaz - Feel Good Inc : 6.0 LU

• The Chemical Brothers - Salmon Dance : 6.8 LU

• Madeon - Icarus : 4.0 LU

• La Roux - In For The Kill : 3.7 LU

• Basement Jaxx - Good Luck : 7.8 LU

• Chase N Status - End Credits : 7.2 LU

Ballad: 9.9 LU Average

• Damian Rice - Cannonball : 11.4 LU

• Sam Smith - Stay With Me : 7.2 LU

• Adele - Set Fire To The Rain : 8.3 LU

• Ben Howard - Keep Your Head Up : 15.2 LU

• Michael Jackson - Man In The Mirror : 8.2 LU

• Ed Sheeran - Lego House : 7.1 LU

• Whitney Houston - I Will Always Love You : 16.1 LU

• Barry Manilow - Unchained Melody : 9.8 LU

• Bruno Mars - The Way You Are : 6.6 LU

• Cher - If I Could Turn Back Time : 9.2 LU