YouTube Specs
Music reaches YouTube two ways: Art Tracks delivered by your distributor, and videos you upload yourself. Both are loudness-normalised on playback.
Artwork
| Thumbnail size | 1280×720 px (16:9) |
| Art Track image | Uses your release cover art, square |
| Format | JPEG or PNG, under 2 MB for thumbnails |
Audio
| Upload format | Any common format; upload the highest quality WAV/FLAC you have |
| Consumer codec | AAC/Opus, re-encoded by YouTube |
Loudness
| Normalisation target | -14 LUFS integrated |
| Behaviour | Louder videos are turned down; quieter ones are not boosted |
Video
| Recommended resolution | 1920×1080 (16:9) or higher |
| Shorts | 1080×1920 (9:16), up to 3 minutes |
| Codec | H.264 or VP9, MP4 container |
Worth knowing
- YouTube does not turn quiet tracks up, so a very dynamic master can sound noticeably quieter than everything else.
- Content ID claims come from your distributor's delivery, not from your own uploads.
Source: YouTube Help · Last verified 2026-09-27