Spotify finally launches support for lossless streaming for Premium subscribers

After years of anticipation and multiple delays, streaming giant Spotify has officially begun rolling out its long-awaited lossless audio feature, delivering CD-quality music to its Premium subscribers.

The move, which brings Spotify in line with its major competitors, promises an enhanced listening experience for both audiophiles and casual listeners.

The company first announced its plans for a high-fidelity, or “Hi-Fi,” tier back in 2021, but the launch was repeatedly pushed back, reportedly due to complex licensing negotiations.

Last year, CEO Daniel Ek confirmed the feature was still in its early stages, leaving users to wonder when, or if, it would materialize.

Now, the wait is over, as the platform introduces support for up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz streaming in the FLAC format, a type of compression that preserves the full depth and detail of original studio recordings without any loss of quality.

The global rollout is scheduled to continue through October, encompassing over 50 countries. A first wave of subscribers in thirteen nations, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, and Japan, is already gaining access. Users will receive a notification within the app once the feature is available to them.

To activate the new audio quality, subscribers must navigate to the “Media Quality” section within the app’s settings and select “Lossless.”

This setting needs to be enabled individually for Wi-Fi streaming, cellular data, and downloads, and must also be activated on each device linked to an account, as the preference does not sync automatically.

Given that lossless files are significantly larger than standard streams, Spotify has incorporated a data usage tracker to help users manage their consumption.

The company also highlights a key technical limitation: high-fidelity audio cannot be streamed over Bluetooth due to bandwidth restrictions, an issue previously noted by Apple.

To bypass this, users can utilize Spotify Connect to stream directly to compatible Wi-Fi-enabled speakers from brands such as Bose, Yamaha, and Bluesound.

While a welcome development for its user base, Spotify’s entry into the lossless market comes years after rivals like Apple Music and Amazon Music integrated the feature into their standard offerings.

Spotify has announced that the new quality will be applied to “nearly every track” in its vast library of over 100 million songs, marking a significant, albeit delayed, step forward in the streaming wars.