Spotify has begun rolling out lossless audio streaming to Premium subscribers, delivering on a promise first teased eight years ago. The long-awaited feature allows users to stream music in higher quality without paying extra.
“The wait is finally over,” said Gustav Gyllenhammar, Spotify’s VP of Subscriptions. “We’ve taken time to build this feature in a way that prioritizes quality, ease of use, and clarity.”
The new lossless option streams music in 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC format, a significant upgrade from Spotify’s previous maximum quality of 320 kbps using the Ogg Vorbis codec (AAC on the web player).
FLAC uses lossless compression, preserving all audio data from the original recording, letting listeners hear more detail in their music. However, Spotify’s implementation falls short of competitors like Apple Music, Tidal, and Qobuz, which offer up to 24-bit/192 kHz streams.
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Setting up lossless requires manual activation on each device. Users need to tap their profile icon, go to Settings & Privacy, select Media Quality, and choose “Lossless” for Wi-Fi, cellular, or downloads. Once enabled, a lossless indicator appears in the Now Playing view.
The rollout covers more than 50 markets through October, with early access in countries including the US, UK, Germany, Japan, and Australia. The feature works on mobile, desktop, and tablet, plus compatible Spotify Connect devices from brands like Sony, Bose, Samsung, and Sennheiser. Support for Sonos and Amazon devices will arrive next month.
For the best listening experience, Spotify recommends using wired headphones or speakers over Wi-Fi connections, since Bluetooth doesn’t provide enough bandwidth for true lossless audio. As Spotify notes, the lossless audio files can be larger, which may cause a moment’s delay for the track to play while it’s cached and loaded.
Spotify’s move closes a major quality gap with competitors who have offered lossless audio for years. Apple Music introduced it in May 2021, while Amazon Music added the feature in 2019. Despite previous reports suggesting Spotify might charge extra for lossless audio, the company has included it at no additional cost with regular Premium subscriptions.While this update satisfies a long-standing request from music fans, Spotify still lacks spatial audio features like Dolby Atmos that Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Tidal already offer. With YouTube Music now the only major streaming service without lossless audio, Spotify’s premium tier has become more competitive in the streaming music landscape.
