Spotify to add Lossless to Premium subscription in 50 countries

Long-standing rumors about the introduction of Lossless audio in Spotify, which have already become a meme, have finally been confirmed. The streaming service has announced the launch of this feature in 50 regions for Premium users – and most importantly, at no additional cost.

Technical features

According to the company’s official announcement, Premium subscribers will receive a notification in the application as soon as the new option becomes available in their region. Lossless compression is implemented in the FLAC 24-bit/44.1 kHz format.

Lossless is supported on smartphones and tablets, PCs, as well as on many devices that support Spotify Connect. Among them are Sony, Bose, Samsung, Sennheiser, Denon, Marantz, Bluesound and Yamaha. Support for Sonos and Amazon devices will appear next month.

The company recommends playing Lossless primarily over Wi-Fi, using wired headphones or speakers. The reason is simple: Bluetooth does not yet provide enough bandwidth to transmit a compressed audio stream, so the signal is additionally compressed.

Another limitation is related to the size of FLAC files – they are much larger than in the standard format, which can lead to longer download times and increased caching time on devices.

How to enable Lossless in Spotify

Enabling the new feature is done through the usual quality settings: Profile → Settings and privacy → Media quality.

There you can select Lossless separately for each mode Wi-Fi, mobile network, and so on. In this case, you will have to enable it on each device where you need lossless audio playback. During playback, a mark will appear on the screen indicating that the maximum quality is used.

The gradual rollout of the feature will continue until October. Users in Australia, Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, the United States and the United Kingdom have already started to receive access to Lossless.

Thus, Spotify has finally caught up with competitors like Tidal, Qobuz and Apple Music, which have long offered Lossless, and did so without an additional fee, which could become a strong argument for maintaining and expanding the Premium subscriber base.

Comparing Spotify Lossless with Tidal and Apple Music

Spotify Lossless

• Format: FLAC 24 bit / 44.1 kHz (CD quality).

• Bitrate: about 1.4 Mbps (5–10 times higher than regular Spotify Premium with OGG ~320 kbps).

• Devices: smartphones, PCs, Spotify Connect (Sonos and Amazon support coming later).

• Limitations:

  • no Hi-Res above 44.1 kHz;

  • Bluetooth does not transmit Lossless (only via wire or Wi-Fi).

• Price: included in Premium (no extra charge).

Tidal HiFi / HiFi Plus

• Formats:

  • HiFi: FLAC 16 bit / 44.1 kHz (CD quality).

  • HiFi Plus: FLAC up to 24 bit / 192 kHz + MQA (proprietary format, compressed Hi-Res).

• Bitrate:

  • HiFi — up to ~1.4 Mbps.

  • HiFi Plus — up to ~9 Mbps (Hi-Res FLAC).

• Features:

  • Many tracks in Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio</strong.

  • Strong emphasis on Hi-Res.

• Price: more expensive than standard subscriptions (HiFi Plus is the most complete version)

Apple Music Lossless

• Formats:

  • Lossless: ALAC 16 bit / 44.1 kHz.

  • Hi-Res Lossless: ALAC up to 24 bit / 192 kHz.

• Bitrate: from ~1.4 to ~9 Mbps.

• Features:

  • Support Dolby Atmos (Spatial Audio).

  • Works on all Apple devices.

  • Hi-Res requires external DAC (wired).

• Price: included in standard subscription (no extra charge).