Spotify Lossless Audio Is Finally Here: Free for All Premium Subscribers

After years of whispers, teases, and a whole lot of patience, music lovers, the moment has finally arrived! Spotify is officially rolling out lossless audio streaming, delivering a much higher quality listening experience directly to your ears.

The Big News: No Extra Cost for Premium Users

And here’s the best part: if you’re a Spotify Premium subscriber, you’re getting this incredible upgrade at no additional cost! That’s right, no hidden fees or extra tiers – just pure, uncompressed audio included with your existing plan.

Who Gets It and When

The rollout begins today, reaching Premium members in key markets like the US, UK, Australia, Germany, Japan, and Sweden, among others. Don’t worry if your country isn’t on that initial list; Spotify plans to extend lossless audio access to over 50 markets by the end of October. Keep an eye on your account for a notification once it’s enabled for you!

Listen Everywhere: Device Compatibility

Whether you’re jamming on your phone, desktop, or tablet, Spotify Lossless will be available. It also supports many Spotify Connect-compatible devices from brands like Sony, Bose, Samsung, and Sennheiser. Good news for Sonos and Amazon device users too – support is coming next month.

How to Enable Spotify Lossless

Ready to elevate your listening? You’ll need to manually enable Spotify Lossless on each device where you want to use it. Here’s how:
1. Tap your profile icon in the top left corner of the Spotify app.
2. Go to Settings & Privacy.
3. Select Media Quality.
4. From there, you can choose to turn on lossless audio for Wi-Fi and cellular streaming, as well as for your downloads.
Once activated, you’ll see a special lossless indicator in the ‘Now Playing’ view and the Connect Picker, so you always know you’re getting the best quality.

Understanding Data Usage and Quality

As you might expect, lossless streaming uses significantly more data than standard quality options. Spotify has wisely included various settings for Wi-Fi, cellular, and downloads to help you manage your data usage. You’ll be able to see how much data each quality option (low, normal, high, very high, and lossless) will consume, helping you make an informed choice.
Spotify Lossless offers up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC streaming, promising “greater detail across nearly every song available on Spotify.”

Getting the Best Lossless Experience

To truly experience the full glory of lossless audio, Spotify recommends streaming on Wi-Fi using wired headphones or speakers. Why wired? Because current Bluetooth technology doesn’t have enough bandwidth to support lossless audio without compression. So, if you’re using Bluetooth, the signal will still be compressed before it reaches your ears. Also, expect a slight delay when starting lossless tracks, as your device might need a moment to cache the audio for smooth playback.

A Long Time Coming: The History of Spotify HiFi

Spotify’s journey to lossless audio has been a marathon, not a sprint. Rumors of “Spotify HiFi” first surfaced way back in 2017. In 2021, the company even promised a CD-quality option that year, but it never materialized. More recently, there was speculation that lossless would arrive in 2025 as a $6 monthly add-on. Thankfully, Spotify has delivered on the quality and made it a standard Premium feature, avoiding the extra cost.

Catching Up with the Competition

By including lossless audio in its standard Premium plan, Spotify now aligns with competitors like Apple Music, which has offered lossless streaming to its subscribers at no extra charge since 2021. This move finally levels the playing field for audio quality at no additional cost for Premium users.

What’s Next?

So, go ahead, dive into your favorite tracks with newfound clarity and detail. And hey, Spotify, now that lossless is sorted… how about Dolby Atmos next?