Audio Deliverable Specs for Netflix, Apple TV+, and Spotify
Audio Deliverable Specs for Netflix, Apple TV+, and Spotify
Every platform has its own audio delivery spec. Get it wrong and your content gets rejected at QC, or worse — it passes QC but sounds terrible after the platform’s normalization algorithm mangles your mix.
The specs aren’t hard to find, but they are scattered across different partner portals, PDF documents, and support pages that change without notice. This article puts the numbers in one place: loudness targets, sample rates, bit depths, true peak limits, and format requirements for Netflix, Apple TV+, Spotify, and the two major broadcast standards.
Bookmark this. You’ll come back to it.
Netflix
Netflix publishes detailed technical specs through its Partner Help Center. The audio requirements are strict, and QC is automated — meaning your files get measured by software, not a human with flexible ears.
Sample rate and bit depth: 48 kHz / 24-bit. No exceptions.
Integrated loudness: -27 LUFS, with a tolerance of ±2 LU. This is quieter than most broadcast standards, which gives you more dynamic range to work with. Don’t fight it — mix to the target and let the dynamics breathe.
True peak: -2 dBTP. Leave yourself headroom. Inter-sample peaks will catch you if your limiter isn’t true-peak aware.
Immersive audio: Dolby Atmos is strongly preferred for Netflix originals. The delivery format is ADM BWF (Audio Definition Model Broadcast Wave Format), which embeds Atmos object metadata directly in the file. If you’re delivering a licensed title or lower-budget content, stereo and 5.1 mixes as standard WAV files are also accepted.
File format: WAV or BWF. Compressed formats are not accepted for master delivery.
Quick reference
| Parameter | Spec |
|---|---|
| Sample rate | 48 kHz |
| Bit depth | 24-bit |
| Integrated loudness | -27 LUFS (±2 LU) |
| True peak | -2 dBTP |
| Preferred format | ADM BWF (Atmos), WAV (stereo/5.1) |
Apple TV+
Apple’s delivery requirements are similar to Netflix in some ways but diverge in others — especially around loudness targets, which vary by content type.
Sample rate and bit depth: 48 kHz / 24-bit.
Integrated loudness: This is where Apple gets specific. For drama, documentary, and spoken-word content, the target is approximately -24 LUFS integrated. For music-driven content — concert films, music specials, anything where the primary content is music — the target shifts to approximately -16 LUFS integrated. That’s a significant difference. Know which category your project falls into before you start your final pass.
True peak: -1 dBTP. Tighter than Netflix by 1 dB. Make sure your limiter is set accordingly.
Immersive audio: Dolby Atmos with Spatial Audio is expected for Apple TV+ originals. Apple has been aggressive about Spatial Audio across its ecosystem, so this isn’t optional for original content. Stereo and 5.1 deliverables are still part of the package, but the Atmos mix is the priority.
Quick reference
| Parameter | Spec |
|---|---|
| Sample rate | 48 kHz |
| Bit depth | 24-bit |
| Integrated loudness (drama/spoken word) | ~-24 LUFS |
| Integrated loudness (music) | ~-16 LUFS |
| True peak | -1 dBTP |
| Preferred format | Dolby Atmos (Spatial Audio) |
Spotify
Spotify’s specs matter for a different reason. You’re not delivering a mix for a show — you’re delivering a master that will be ingested, transcoded, and played back with Spotify’s loudness normalization applied automatically.
Sample rate: 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz. Both are accepted. If your master is already at 44.1 kHz from a music production workflow, don’t upsample it to 48 kHz — that adds conversion artifacts for no benefit.
Bit depth: 24-bit preferred.
Integrated loudness and normalization: This is the part that trips people up. Spotify normalizes playback to -14 LUFS. But — and this matters — the normalization is asymmetric. If your master is louder than -14 LUFS, Spotify turns it down. If your master is quieter than -14 LUFS, Spotify does not turn it up. Your quiet master stays quiet.
What this means in practice: mastering louder than -14 LUFS buys you nothing on Spotify. Your track just gets attenuated, and you’ve sacrificed dynamics for no gain. Master to around -14 LUFS integrated, or slightly below, and preserve your transients and dynamic range.
True peak: -1 dBTP. This prevents clipping artifacts during transcoding to lossy formats (OGG Vorbis, AAC).
File format: WAV or FLAC for source delivery. These are what Spotify transcodes from. Don’t upload MP3 — you’d be transcoding a lossy format into another lossy format, and it sounds exactly as bad as that implies.
Quick reference
| Parameter | Spec |
|---|---|
| Sample rate | 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz |
| Bit depth | 24-bit |
| Normalization target | -14 LUFS (louder gets turned down, quieter stays quiet) |
| True peak | -1 dBTP |
| Preferred format | WAV or FLAC |
Broadcast standards: EBU R128 and ATSC A/85
If you’re delivering for broadcast rather than streaming, two standards cover most of the world.
EBU R128 (European broadcast)
EBU R128 is the loudness standard used across European broadcasters and many international markets.
- Integrated loudness: -23 LUFS (±1 LU tolerance). The tolerance is tight — tighter than any streaming platform.
- True peak: -1 dBTP.
- Loudness range (LRA): Not a fixed requirement, but typically expected between 6–18 LU depending on content type. A commercial has a very different LRA than a feature film.
ATSC A/85 (US broadcast)
ATSC A/85 is the US standard, mandated by the CALM Act for all broadcast television.
- Integrated loudness: -24 LKFS (±2 LU tolerance). Note: LKFS and LUFS are numerically identical — different standards bodies, same measurement.
- True peak: -2 dBTP.
Both standards use the ITU-R BS.1770 measurement algorithm under the hood. If your meter is BS.1770-compliant, it works for both.
Checking your audio before you submit
Loudness and format specs get most of the attention, but there’s a file-level issue that slips past many engineers: dual mono.
A dual mono file is a stereo interleaved file where both channels carry the same signal. It looks like stereo in your DAW. It plays back like stereo. But it’s actually mono content stuffed into a two-channel wrapper.
This happens constantly. Camera audio recorded in mono gets written as dual mono by the recorder. Sound effects libraries ship interleaved stereo files that are actually mono sources. Field recorders default to dual channel output even when only one mic is connected.
Here’s why this matters for delivery:
QC rejection. Some automated QC systems flag dual mono files as improperly formatted. If your delivery spec calls for mono content on mono tracks — and most do — a dual mono file sitting on a stereo track is technically noncompliant.
Double the file size. A dual mono file is twice the size of the equivalent mono file. Across a full deliverable package with hundreds or thousands of files, that adds up fast. You’re shipping redundant data.
Unnecessary processing. Downstream systems process both channels of a stereo file independently. When those channels are identical, every operation — encoding, normalization, format conversion — runs twice for no reason.
The fix is simple, but doing it manually across a large project is tedious. You’d need to open every stereo file, compare the channels, and re-export the mono ones. For a feature film with thousands of sound files, that’s hours of work.
MonoMate handles this in minutes. Drag your files or folders in, and it instantly analyzes every file to identify which ones are dual mono. One click converts them to true mono. No DAW required, no scripting, no manual channel comparisons. It runs on macOS 13+ and Windows 10+, costs $29 (one-time, covers two machines), and has a free trial so you can test it on your actual project files before you buy.
Run MonoMate on your deliverable package before you submit. It’s the fastest way to catch dual mono files that would otherwise sail through your own review and get flagged at the other end.
Pre-submission checklist
Use this before every delivery. Adjust the loudness target for your specific platform.
Format
- Sample rate confirmed (48 kHz for film/TV, 44.1 or 48 kHz for music)
- Bit depth: 24-bit
- File format matches spec (WAV, BWF, ADM BWF, FLAC)
- No sample rate conversion artifacts
Loudness
- Integrated loudness measured with a BS.1770-compliant meter
- Loudness hits platform target within tolerance
- True peak below platform limit (-1 or -2 dBTP depending on spec)
- Measurement taken on full program, not individual stems
Channel configuration
- Mono content is on mono tracks in mono files
- All dual mono files detected and converted to true mono — use MonoMate
- Stereo files verified as genuinely stereo
- Surround/Atmos deliverables conform to platform channel order
Immersive audio (if applicable)
- Dolby Atmos mix delivered as ADM BWF
- Stereo and 5.1 fold-downs included per spec
- Spatial Audio metadata validated
Final checks
- File naming matches delivery spec exactly
- All required stems and mixes accounted for
- Delivery method confirmed (portal upload, SFTP, hard drive)
- Checksums generated if required
Get the specs right the first time and your delivery clears QC without a phone call. Get the dual mono files sorted before you package anything — MonoMate makes that a two-minute job instead of a two-hour one.
MonoMate detects and converts fake stereo files to true mono — before you even open your session. Learn more →