What LUFS target to master lullaby?

[jesseh]

Hello all,

I recently submitted 3 lullabies to this listing https://www.taxi.com/listings/S240502BQ :

----------------------------------------------------
Lots of KID'S LULLABY INSTRUMENTALS and/or INSTRUMENTAL CUES are needed by a Great Music Licensing Company with lots of Film and TV placements.

This Library is looking for a bunch of Instrumentals (and/or Cues) in the general stylistic ballpark of the following references:

"Go to Sleep Little Baby" by TinyGrads

"William's Lullaby" by Soothing Lullabies

"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" by Relax Bear

Please submit original and well-crafted Instrumentals and/or Instrumental Cues with a soft, soothing sound that could be used to help young children fall asleep. Your submissions should have relaxing motifs, slow-moving rhythms, solid arrangements, peaceful sounds, and a soft, gentle vibe. Instrumentation in the general ballpark of the references will suit your submissions best – think vibraphone, xylophone, soft guitar, etc. Please be sure any virtual instruments or sounds you use are high-quality and not dated-sounding.
----------------------------------------------------

They were all returned, not too concerned about that except for 2 out of 3 had a comment on needed remastering. I struggled with the mastering of these because they are soft lullabies, not in your face hard rock stuff, so I mastered them quietly, ending up somewhere around -14 to -16 LUFS. Yes, they are quiet. Should I have mastered them more to say -12 or -11 LUFS and not worry about them being loud, let the listener control the volume (which means they would have to turn it way down...). I am using Ozone 10 and having it determine the maximizer level by setting a target LUFS. Clearly I missed the mark, what target LUFS would you suggest for such soft music?

Here are the 3 lullabies I submitted:
https://s.disco.ac/ebliioyahdmp

Regards,
Jesse

[eandersonmusic]

Hey Jesse!
Yeah I think in general -12 is a safe bet.
I thought the same thing about my submission and the genre, but then I compared my track to the examples and realized I definitely had to bring it up.
Just keep plugin away and learning from each return! Trust me I've had my fair share of returns, for all types of reasons, this one included. Best thing to do when you are about to submit a track is to go back and reread the listing and relisten to the examples.
Hope this helps!
-Erik

[jesseh]

Hey Jesse!
Yeah I think in general -12 is a safe bet.
I thought the same thing about my submission and the genre, but then I compared my track to the examples and realized I definitely had to bring it up.
Just keep plugin away and learning from each return! Trust me I've had my fair share of returns, for all types of reasons, this one included. Best thing to do when you are about to submit a track is to go back and reread the listing and relisten to the examples.
Hope this helps!
-Erik

Thank you Erik! I appreciate the feedback!