DistroKid's upload form includes a checkbox for "Loudness Normalization."
When you select this optional album extra, DistroKid will automatically adjust the level and headroom of your audio to Spotify's recommended settings: -14dB integrated LUFS with -1dB true peak maximum. Your newly adjusted audio will be sent to all streaming services you've selected.
Streaming services recommend these or similar settings to reduce the likelihood of distortion, clipping, and other problems that can arise during each streaming services' transcoding and playback processes. For information about Spotify's transcoding processes, for example, visit https://artists.spotify.com/help/article/audio-file-formats.
If you opt into Loudness Normalization, we'll first check if your release is already at optimal loudness. If it is, we won't apply the Loudness Normalization extra, and you will not be charged for it.
For more information about Spotify's recommendations, see the "Mastering Tips" section of this page from Spotify for Artists: https://artists.spotify.com/help/article/loudness-normalization.
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