Streaming services can apply playback normalisation, but delivery acceptance and consumer playback are separate systems. A platform may request one master specification while its app later adjusts playback level according to device, content type or user settings.
The mixer should therefore build a coherent, intelligible and appropriately dynamic master first, then verify it against the current delivery document supplied for the programme. Chasing an assumed app-normalisation number can compromise a mix without improving acceptance.
Separate Delivery Targets from Playback Behaviour
Delivery targets describe the file submitted to a distributor. Playback normalisation describes what may happen after ingestion. The two can use different measurements, and playback behaviour can change without the production master being recalled.
Keep the approved specification with the session and record the standard, measurement mode and date. Public music-streaming targets are not automatically valid for feature films, episodic content, trailers or advertising delivered to the same corporate brand.
- Use the programme-specific delivery document
- Measure the complete exported file
- Retain an unnormalised approved master
- Evaluate codec and device playback as translation checks, not replacement specifications
Dialogue Anchor and Scene-to-Scene Stability
Dialogue must remain readable without forcing every scene to the same short-term value. Establish a dependable speech perspective, then allow music, effects and silence to create scale around it.
Watch the transition from restrained scenes to action and back again. If a loudness target is met only because quiet passages are unnaturally raised or impact scenes are crushed, the mix may pass a meter yet translate poorly in real viewing conditions.
A focused guide to loudness, surround balance, downmixes and OTT-oriented audio post workflows.
View ResourceEvaluate Real Playback Conditions
Check the approved master on calibrated monitoring first, then audition a controlled stereo downmix, headphones and a modest television or soundbar. These checks reveal masked dialogue and excessive low-frequency energy that a single integrated figure cannot describe.
If a lossy preview is part of the workflow, compare it with the PCM master at matched loudness. Codec changes should not be corrected by altering the archival master unless the distributor explicitly requires an encoded deliverable.
Practical QC Checklist
- Delivery and playback requirements are not being conflated
- Dialogue remains intelligible through dense scenes
- Integrated loudness and true peak meet the supplied specification
- Downmix and consumer checks are level-matched
- The approved PCM master is retained unchanged
Mixing perspective: Normalisation cannot repair poor internal balance. It turns the whole programme up or down; it does not rescue dialogue buried under music and effects.
Mix for narrative consistency, verify against the actual contract, and treat platform playback behaviour as a translation consideration rather than a substitute for mastering.