Is there a reference level for music like there is for movies?

Nope there is no estiablished reference level for music. I wish there was that might of avoided the loudness wars we've been dealing with for the past 12-15 years.

There are no standards for mixing and mastering music. However there has been an effort to set up such a standard, at about the same SPL level as movies. After all, we listen to both with the same set of ears...

Arny, are you thinking of Bob Katz's modest proposal?

It's covered here http://www.digido.com/how-to-make-better-recordings-part-2.html in tons of detail.

He also has good stuff on the loudness wars and, for younger folks who listen to new music and may may never have heard a music recording with significant dynamic range, he's got a hall of fame from which you might be able to extract an acceptabel-to-you reasonably well-mastered disc. one of my favorites, the Little Feat live album, is on the list but not in the top couple of tiers. He also says you can hear the harshness in the ADCs used at the time on that record (originally an analog recording - I have the vinyl SOMEWHERE). I can only hear what's there, not what would be there if it were mastered and/or ADC-ed differently. Guess that's why he is the mastering engineer and I'm just a guy.

The Dynamic Range Databse is good for finding well recorded albums. I tend to check this before buying new albums, sometimes the DR rating will make me stay away if it's crushed into oblivion.

http://www.dr.loudness-war.info/