The difference between an amateur demo and a commercial release isn’t usually the gear, it’s the discipline of the workflow. Before you call a track “done,” there are technical benchmarks that must be met to ensure your music survives the journey to streaming platforms:

• Headroom Management: Avoid “clipping” your master fader. Aim for $-6dB$ of peak headroom so there is space for the mastering process to work its magic.

• Stereo vs. Mono: Check your mix in mono. If your lead synths or wide guitars disappear, you have phase cancellation issues that will ruin the song on club systems or phone speakers.

• Frequency Balance: Ensure your kick and bass aren’t fighting for the same 30Hz – 100Hz space. Use sidechaining to let the kick punch through.

The Masterchannel Advantage

You’ve done the hard work of writing, mixing, and troubleshooting. The “Final Mile” is where Masterchannel takes over. Instead of struggling with a complex chain of limiters and imagers on your master bus, you can upload your mix to Masterchannel and get an objective, world-class result in seconds. It acts as a final quality control, fixing minor frequency imbalances and ensuring your track meets the rigorous loudness standards of Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal.