Lossless audio finally comes to Spotify

Summary

• Spotify is rolling out lossless audio support for Premium members at no extra cost.
• Lossless audio is available now in the US, UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and select European countries. 50 more markets will receive it in October.
• Spotify recommends using wired headphones or non-Bluetooth speakers when listening to lossless for the best possible quality. Listening over Bluetooth will compress it.

After years of anticipation, the wait is finally over. Spotify has added lossless audio support to its platform. The music streaming giant first announced plans for lossless audio with Spotify Hi-Fi back in 2021, saying it would arrive “later this year.” However, the launch was delayed, and it’s only now, four years later, that the feature has arrived.

Earlier this year, leaks surfaced about Spotify working on lossless audio integration, sparking renewed hope that it would be released soon. It seems those rumors were accurate. In a recent blog post, Spotify confirmed that lossless audio support is available now, and the best part is that it’s not tied to a higher-tier or more expensive Premium membership, as leaks once thought, you just need regular Spotify Premium. If you’re unfamiliar with lossless audio, it’s a higher-quality audio format that preserves all the original sound data, unlike MP3, which discards some details during compression. This means lossless audio offers more accurate and detailed sound.

Spotify now offers lossless audio support to all Premium members in the US, Australia, Austria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, and the UK. An additional 50 countries will start getting it in October. When you gain access to the feature, you’ll receive a notification from the app.

“We’ve taken time to build this feature in a way that prioritizes quality, ease of use, and clarity at every step, so you always know what’s happening under the hood,” said Gustav Gyllenhammar, VP of subscriptions at Spotify. “With Lossless, our premium users will now have an even better listening experience.”

How to listen to lossless audio on Spotify

You can find it in Settings under Media Quality

Spotify’s lossless audio integration is available on mobile devices, desktops, tablets, and devices that support Spotify Connect, including speakers and headphones from Sony, Boss, Samsung, and Sennheiser. Support for additional devices, including those from Amazon and Sonos, is coming in October.

To stream lossless quality, you’ll need a Spotify Premium subscription, which costs $12 a month. For the best listening experience with lossless audio, Spotify recommends using wired headphones or speakers on a non-Bluetooth connection, such as with Spotify Connect. Bluetooth audio devices lack enough bandwidth to transmit lossless audio, so listening through them will result in compression, which won’t sound as good as a wired connection.

With all that in mind, here’s how to enable lossless audio step-by-step on the Spotify app:

1. In the top-left corner of the Spotify app, tap your profile icon.

2. Select Settings and Privacy.

3. Choose Media Quality.

4. Switch to Lossless quality.

5. Select your preferred streaming methods for lossless, with options for listening over Wi-Fi, cellular, and downloaded tracks.

When you’re listening to a track with lossless audio, you’ll be able to tell as there is a lossless audio indicator in the Now Playing bar, and when you go to select a device for Spotify Connect via the Connect Picker.

One caveat worth noting about Spotify’s lossless audio integration is that it currently caps at 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC. In comparison, Apple Music offers 24-bit / 192 KHz FLAC. Though, in all fairness, unless you’re an audiophile with the best audio equipment, it will likely be hard to tell the difference.

As a Premium member for over a decade, I’ve built my music library and tastes on Spotify, so being able to listen to everything in higher quality without paying extra is, simply put, fantastic.

Lossless audio support is still rolling out, so if you don’t see it, make sure your Spotify is up-to-date by visiting the App Store or Google Play Store. If you’re in the US or any of the countries it’s already available in, you should see it very soon, and you’ll be notified when it becomes available.

It’s been a long time coming, but I’m excited that Spotify has finally launched lossless audio. As a Premium member for over a decade, I’ve built my music library and tastes on Spotify, so being able to listen to everything in higher quality without paying extra is, simply put, fantastic. Lossless audio support is available to Spotify Premium members in the US, Australia, Austria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, and the UK. With 50 more countries expected to receive it in October.