Best Export Settings for Streaming
Updated July 2026 · by Loopin
Getting your export settings right means your track arrives at Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube sounding exactly as you intended. Here are the format, sample rate, bit depth and loudness numbers that travel best.
Format: deliver lossless
Export your final master as a WAV (or another lossless format like AIFF or FLAC), not an MP3. Distributors and streaming platforms want the highest-quality source so they can encode their own lossy versions for each service from clean audio. Hand them an MP3 and you’ve baked in compression artefacts before they even start. See WAV vs MP3 for mastering for why lossless matters.
If a service specifically asks for a high-resolution master, a WAV at 24-bit covers it. The lossy MP3 or AAC the listener eventually streams is created by the platform — your job is to give it the best possible starting point.
Sample rate and bit depth
Export at your project’s native sample rate — usually 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz. Don’t up-sample a 44.1 kHz project to 48 kHz hoping for better quality; it just adds a conversion step without adding detail. If you recorded at a higher rate like 96 kHz, exporting at that rate is fine, and the platform will down-sample as needed.
For bit depth, deliver 24-bit. The extra resolution over 16-bit gives a lower noise floor and more headroom, and the platform handles any conversion to the bit depth it streams. Only drop to 16-bit if a distributor specifically requires it — and apply dithering when you do.
Loudness and true peak
Master to around −14 LUFS integrated, which sits well across Spotify, YouTube and Amazon; Apple Music normalises a touch lower near −16 LUFS, but a single −14 LUFS master translates fine everywhere. Pushing far louder doesn’t help — the platform turns it back down and you’ve lost dynamics for nothing. Our guide on how loud a master should be covers this in full.
Leave a true-peak ceiling of about −1 dBTP. Inter-sample peaks that a normal peak meter misses can clip when the platform encodes to lossy formats, and that distortion is far more audible than a fraction of a dB of loudness. The recipe: around −14 LUFS, true peak at −1 dBTP, in 24-bit WAV.
Hit these settings for free
You don’t need a stack of metering plugins to nail these numbers. Bounce a clean WAV from your mix and run it through Loopin’s free online mastering — it targets streaming loudness, limits true peak to −1 dBTP and lets you export a finished, lossless master, with an A/B against the original so you judge the tone honestly.
Keep that WAV master as your release and archive file, and upload it directly to your distributor. With the right format, sample rate and loudness baked in, your master sounds consistent from earbuds to car speakers across every platform.
Frequently asked questions
What format should I export for streaming?
Export a lossless WAV (or AIFF/FLAC), not an MP3. Distributors and streaming platforms encode their own lossy versions for each service, so they want the cleanest possible source. Make any MP3 from the finished WAV.
What sample rate and bit depth for streaming?
Export at your project's native sample rate (usually 44.1 or 48 kHz) and 24-bit depth. Don't up-sample; the platform handles any conversion. Only drop to 16-bit if a distributor requires it, and dither when you do.
What loudness should I target for streaming?
Around -14 LUFS integrated with a true-peak ceiling of -1 dBTP works across Spotify, YouTube and Apple Music. Going louder just gets normalised back down while costing you dynamics.