A practical guide from Nick Landis Mastering covering everything you need to send before a mastering session — file formats, headroom, master bus processing, how to communicate intent, and the project information that goes with your masters.

For a long time, louder felt like the goal. If your track hit harder than the next one, it grabbed the listener's attention. That mindset made sense when playback systems were inconsistent and volume was a competitive advantage. That’s no longer the world we’re releasing music into.

Today, louder doesn’t mean what it used to. And in many cases, pushing level too far actually works against the music.