A commercial can have the right score, the right edit and the right voice, then lose time at delivery because the audio is too loud, too quiet, too compressed or simply not measured against the right spec.
That sounds like a technical problem. In practice, it is a production risk. A rejected TV master, a CTV version that feels abrasive between programmes, or a social cut that disappears on a phone can cost more than a properly planned mix pass.
So the useful question is not simply: what LUFS should the ad be? The useful question is: which masters does this campaign need, and who is confirming the delivery requirement before final mix?
Loudness is not the same as turning up the volume
In production meetings, people often use volume as a catch-all word. It hides several different measurements.
Peak level tells you how high the signal reaches digitally. Loudness describes perceived level over time, usually measured in LUFS or LKFS. Two commercials can have similar peaks and feel completely different if one is heavily compressed and the other has real dynamic movement.
For advertising, this matters because the old instinct to make the spot louder than everything around it is now a weak strategy. Broadcasters, ad platforms and playback systems increasingly manage loudness. If a mix is pushed too hard, it may simply be turned down, or it may arrive sounding smaller because the dynamics have already been destroyed.
The aim is not to win a volume contest. The aim is to be clear, compliant and emotionally legible in the place where the audience actually hears the film.
That is also a creative issue. Music, sound design, voiceover and sonic branding cannot all live at the front of the mix at the same time. Final loudness is the result of those choices, not a magic number applied at export.
Linear TV needs the spec before the mix
In Europe, EBU R 128 remains a common loudness reference for broadcast, with an average programme loudness recommendation of -23 LUFS and maximum true peak guidance. In the United States, ATSC A/85 is the central digital television loudness recommended practice, and the FCC linked commercial loudness regulation to A/85 through the CALM Act.
For an agency producer, the takeaway is straightforward: do not approve a TV commercial only by listening in an edit suite. Ask for the broadcaster, traffic or media owner delivery sheet. It may specify the loudness standard, tolerance, true peak ceiling, channel format, clock, slate requirements and measurement method.
A 30 second spot for ITV, TF1, NBC or a regional broadcaster should not be delivered on instinct. Many media owners run automated checks. If the file falls outside tolerance, it can be rejected even if everyone loved the creative.
Separate three jobs. The creative mix is about performance, balance and feeling. Technical conformation is about meeting the delivery requirement. Quality control verifies that the file you are sending is the file the destination expects.
Those jobs can happen in the same room. They should not be confused.
If your campaign has multiple edits and markets, our guide to stems and versioning is a useful companion: https://www.sultasto.agency/blog/audio-stems-cutdowns-versioning-ad-campaign-2026-10-08.
CTV is not just a TV master uploaded online
Connected TV feels close to television for the viewer, but the delivery chain can be more fragmented. A spot may travel through a video platform, an ad server, a programmatic marketplace and several playback environments before anyone hears it.
ATSC completed a major revision of A/85 in 2026, reflecting the industry's need to address modern digital and streaming conditions. That does not mean every CTV platform uses one identical spec. It means the market is moving toward more disciplined loudness practice across programming, advertising and connected playback.
For production, ask for a CTV or online video spec, not just the TV spec. It may differ on codec, channel format, peak limits, target loudness and file wrapper. Some inventories want stereo. Some accept multichannel. Many will still be heard through small speakers.
The common mistake is to create one compliant TV master and send it everywhere. It may pass a technical check but feel too tight on CTV, too flat on mobile, or too dense after platform encoding.
A safer plan is to budget for a TV master, a CTV or online video master, and social exports that are checked separately. These do not always require three completely different mixes. They do require three listening decisions.
Social platforms need judgement, not folklore
On social platforms, published documents often focus on duration, aspect ratio, codec, ad review, audio quality and music rights. TikTok's advertising policy, for example, says ad audio must not be unclear, muffled or poor quality. Google Ads publishes requirements for video ads and related formats. Meta has publicly discussed xHE-AAC and loudness management to reduce perceived level jumps across Facebook and Instagram experiences.
What you often do not get is a simple, permanent, universal LUFS target for every paid social placement. That absence should not push teams into guesswork. It should push them into a proper listening workflow.
Reels, TikTok, Shorts and Stories are usually heard on phones, in noisy environments, with very little patience. If the voice is buried, the idea is lost. If the music is over-limited, the ad becomes tiring. If the low end carries the whole emotional weight, the phone speaker may remove the best part of the composition.
A social master should be made for mobile playback: strong centre information, clear speech, controlled low end, non-painful transients and a brand ending that still reads at low volume. Measure it, but also listen to it on the device.
This is especially important when music carries the concept. A score that works beautifully in a suite can become crowded on a phone if the arrangement is not simplified for short vertical cuts. For related decisions, see our article on music under voiceover: https://www.sultasto.agency/blog/music-under-voiceover-commercial-2026-10-20.
A concrete example: a 30 second luxury film
Imagine a 30 second fragrance film built around a contemporary hybrid orchestral score: low strings, processed breath, restrained percussion, a short voiceover and a brand mnemonic.
For French television, the mix must follow the broadcaster's delivery sheet, including loudness measurement, true peak and file format. The music can keep its dynamic shape, but the quiet details need to survive living room playback.
For international CTV, the online master may need a different first three seconds. A pre-roll surrounded by compressed content cannot feel weak at the opening, but the brand still needs restraint. The answer is not to crush the whole mix. It is to control the opening gesture, the voice space and the transition into the packshot.
For Reels and TikTok, the vertical cut may need a lighter arrangement. The low orchestral material is simplified, breath textures are lifted into a more audible range, product sound design is placed higher in the spectrum, and the final sonic mark is shortened.
The campaign still has one sonic identity. It just has several masters. Consistency comes from composition, stems and mix intention, not from forcing one file into every channel.
The serious objection: too many versions can weaken the work
Versioning costs money. It takes mix time, QC time, exports, naming discipline, approvals and trafficking. It can also create a creative problem. If every destination triggers a new round of subjective feedback, the original idea gets diluted.
The answer is not to create endless masters just in case. The answer is to decide which placements genuinely need a different treatment.
A simple buy may only need two masters. A larger campaign with broadcast TV, CTV, cinema, paid YouTube, TikTok, Reels, retail media and localisation needs a more deliberate matrix.
That matrix should list destination, duration, aspect ratio, loudness spec, codec, channel format, true peak ceiling, clock, naming convention, deadline and approver. Without it, final mix becomes a production bottleneck.
Rights should be checked in the same pass. A social adaptation, cutdown, no-voice version or localisation may have implications for the music licence. These pieces may help: https://www.sultasto.agency/blog/music-rights-international-ad-campaign-2026-10-06 and https://www.sultasto.agency/blog/music-license-term-advertising-2026-10-22.
What to send before final mix
Before the mix, give the audio team the media plan, the edit list and the delivery requirements.
Which countries? Which broadcasters? Which CTV platforms? Which social placements? Which durations? Is there voiceover localisation? Will packshots change by market? Does the same music need to work across cutdowns? Are stems required for later adaptation?
Send official spec sheets as soon as they exist. If they do not exist yet, name the assumptions and leave time for conformation.
This is where a music and sound agency can protect both the film and the schedule. It can translate delivery constraints into creative decisions: how much space the voice needs, which stems to print, where the music can stay dynamic, and which sonic logo version will survive the smallest speaker.
If you are planning a multi-format campaign, Sul Tasto can help map music, sound design and masters before media delivery turns the mix into an emergency. Send the media plan, edit and delivery notes here: https://www.sultasto.agency/contact.