The Short Answer
No genre in our sample tilts bright. Every one of the 17 median spectral-tilt values we measured was negative, meaning every genre carries more energy in the 250–500 Hz low-mid band than in the 2–4 kHz high-mid band. The overall median across all 151 releases was -5.0 dB/octave.
Classical is the darkest genre we measured, at a median of -6.3 dB/octave. Indie and reggae are tied as the brightest, at -3.3 dB/octave — still net dark, just less so. That's a 3 dB/octave gap between the darkest and brightest genre medians.
Spectral Tilt by Genre
Tilt is the slope in dB per octave between the low-mid (250–500 Hz) and high-mid (2–4 kHz) bands, measured on peak-rebased spectra. Negative means low-mid heavy (darker); closer to zero means more balanced (brighter). Sorted darkest to brightest.
| Genre | Releases | Median tilt | Tilt IQR | Median crest factor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classical | 8 | -6.3 dB/oct | -7.4 to -5.0 | 14.8 dB |
| Acoustic | 8 | -5.8 dB/oct | -6.2 to -5.0 | 12.1 dB |
| Folk | 9 | -5.7 dB/oct | -6.3 to -4.0 | 11.9 dB |
| Bedroom pop | 8 | -5.5 dB/oct | -6.0 to -5.2 | 11.8 dB |
| Rock | 8 | -5.5 dB/oct | -6.1 to -5.0 | 11.7 dB |
| Metal | 10 | -5.3 dB/oct | -7.3 to -5.0 | 14.7 dB |
| Country | 10 | -5.0 dB/oct | -5.2 to -5.0 | 11.8 dB |
| Hip-hop | 10 | -5.0 dB/oct | -5.3 to -5.0 | 11.0 dB |
| Jazz | 9 | -5.0 dB/oct | -5.0 to -4.3 | 12.5 dB |
| Pop | 10 | -4.8 dB/oct | -5.3 to -4.7 | 10.6 dB |
| Gospel | 10 | -4.7 dB/oct | -6.0 to -4.3 | 13.5 dB |
| R&B | 8 | -4.7 dB/oct | -5.1 to -4.0 | 11.8 dB |
| Electronic | 10 | -4.5 dB/oct | -4.9 to -4.3 | 10.4 dB |
| EDM | 10 | -4.3 dB/oct | -4.7 to -3.5 | 10.2 dB |
| Latin | 10 | -4.3 dB/oct | -5.5 to -3.8 | 11.4 dB |
| Indie | 8 | -3.3 dB/oct | -4.1 to -2.9 | 9.8 dB |
| Reggae | 5 | -3.3 dB/oct | -4.0 to -3.0 | 11.7 dB |
Samples are 5 to 10 releases per genre (reggae is the smallest at 5), so read each row as indicative, not definitive. The overall figures (151 releases) are more reliable than any single genre.
Four Things the Data Shows
1. Dark is the default, not the exception. All 17 genre medians were negative. If you master a track to a flat or slightly bright balance between 250–500 Hz and 2–4 kHz, you're already brighter than the median commercial release in every genre we measured.
2. The darkest genre is also the most dynamic. Classical is the darkest (-6.3 dB/oct) and carries the highest median crest factor in our sample (14.8 dB). Metal is a middling -5.3 dB/oct but is nearly as dynamic (14.7 dB), so it is the exception to the pattern. Across all 151 releases, darker tilt correlated with higher crest factor (r = -0.43, a moderate relationship) — the genres with the least relative high-mid energy also tend to keep the most punch, which lines up with what we found in our dynamic range by genre data.
3. Indie is the brightest genre, and also the flattest-sounding. Indie's median tilt (-3.3 dB/oct) is the least dark in the table, and it also has the lowest median crest factor (9.8 dB) of any genre we measured. Reggae ties indie on tilt but doesn't follow the same crest-factor pattern, so brightness and dynamics don't move together everywhere — the correlation is real but not universal.
4. Tilt tracks loudness weakly and doesn't track the calendar at all. Across all 151 releases, tilt had only a weak positive correlation with LUFS (r = 0.28) and essentially no correlation with release year (r = 0.07, 2004–2024). Louder masters trend very slightly brighter, but mastering engineers haven't systematically brightened or darkened their work over the last two decades — this finding is weak and we're flagging it as such.
What This Means for Your Master
- Don't EQ to a universal "bright" target. Every genre we measured sits below flat between low-mids and high-mids. A dark-leaning balance isn't a mistake — it's what most commercial masters actually do.
- Match your genre's typical tilt, not another genre's. If you're mastering classical, acoustic or folk, expect (and allow) a more low-mid-forward balance than pop, EDM or indie references would suggest.
- If you want more dynamic punch, dark tilt tends to come with it. Our data shows a moderate link between darker tilt and higher crest factor — pulling too much energy into the high-mids while also squashing dynamics works against the pattern most commercial masters follow.
- Check against a real reference, not a rule of thumb. LuvLang's Studio tier includes Reference Match v2, which aligns your master's spectral balance to one of 219 reference fingerprints across 22 genres instead of guessing at a target.
Check your track free: measure its LUFS and true peak and see what Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and 5 more platforms will do to it. Open the free LUFS checker →
How We Measured
We analyzed 151 commercially released masters from our research library (released 2004 to 2024, most from 2018 on) across 17 genres, the same set used in our streaming loudness by genre and dynamic range by genre data. Spectral tilt is the slope in dB per octave between the low-mid (250–500 Hz) and high-mid (2–4 kHz) bands, computed from a peak-rebased 7-band spectral analysis — the same method used by LuvLang's reference-matching engine. We report medians, not means, because single bright or dark outliers can skew a small sample. Per-genre samples range from 5 to 10 releases, so treat any single genre's row as directional; the all-genre figures carry more weight. Full methodology and more findings are in our 2026 loudness research.
Using this data? You're welcome to cite it with a link to this page.