Why I Built the Loudness Targets PDF

I never got to study audio engineering formally. My degree is in Communication, but my love for sound led me to spend years learning the technical side on my own. What I know about loudness, mastering, and delivery, I learned through books, practice, the engineers who took the time to explain with patience instead of gatekeep, and the notes I took while trying to make sense of it all.

Coming from a non-audio background, I've always needed to translate complex topics into simple terms to learn them. When I read papers from the Audio Engineering Society, I admire them deeply — they're rigorous, made for people at the top of their craft. But for a long time, my reality was different. What I needed in those moments wasn't more depth. It was a bridge into the depth.

A friend saw my personal notes over a beer one day and said: "This makes so much sense, thanks for sharing it." That's how this started. I built the reference I wish I'd had when I was first learning.

---

The everyday problem

Every aspiring audio engineer, producer, and artist who cares about streaming quality faces the same dilemma: once the master is finished, what exactly should be delivered? Every platform has its own set of specifications, conventions, and technical hurdles.

I'm sure someone has put all of them in one place before — but in years of looking, I never found a reference that fully convinced me. Maybe this one won't convince you either. If it does, it's for you.

For years I kept those specs in a paper notebook — pen and ink, accumulating across pages, equal parts notes-to-self and accumulated misinformation. The moment that pushed me to fix it was when I caught a spec I'd been using for over a year that turned out to be wrong. Small mistake on paper. Real consequence in delivery.

The decision

The Delivery Specs Pack is built on three principles.

Every number is verified against the platform's own official documentation. Not blogs. Not forum posts. Not YouTube.

Sources are visible. The last page is a Sources & Verification table — every platform with the URL I checked it against, plus a "Last verified" date. No black box.

Free. No email-gate. No upsell. This is the kind of reference the community needs.

Two formats, same content: a printable PDF for the wall and the studio, and the LUFS Explorer — a very simple, interactive companion that lets you hover any platform and compare side-by-side.

The speakers you'll see in the LUFS Explorer are based on an image from Devon Ojas' Listening Room at Lisson Gallery (2022). A small creative detail in a tool that's mostly numbers.

Who this is for

For engineers — you won't find any "secrets" here, but you will find a new way to explain these concepts to your clients and a handy resource to add extra value to your mastering services. The PDF also walks through practical scenarios when your master doesn't match the target: too high, too low, peak over the ceiling, or that "something's still off" feeling. Concrete steps, in context.

For artists and producers — a simple way to understand what happens to your music after you hit upload. It helps you communicate better with your engineer and gives you a guide to technical targets if you're curious about the process.

How to use it

Download the PDF (free, no email needed) and keep it next to your DAW or your phone. Or open the LUFS Explorer when you want to compare platforms quickly.

If you find a spec that looks wrong, tell me. It gets corrected and re-published, probably the same day.

---

If you found this useful, share it with someone who needs it. The whole point of putting this in the open is that the next person trying to figure out what to deliver to which platform doesn't have to start from a Reddit thread the way I did. Simple, accurate, and free isn't a small thing — it's the door I wanted opened when I was the one knocking.

— Andrés 🫀