You can now listen to lossless music on Spotify
What's the story
Spotify has finally launched support for high-quality, lossless music streaming. The feature is available to all premium account holders across 50 countries. The long-awaited update comes after several years of rumors about a potential high-fidelity tier on the platform. In 2021, Spotify had even teased that this new offering would be launched later that year.
Development timeline
Hi-fi tier rollout
The journey to lossless streaming on Spotify has been a long one. The company first announced a hi-fi tier in 2021, promising CD-quality audio. However, the plan was delayed due to licensing issues. Last year, CEO Daniel Ek had said that they were in the "early days" of launching this feature. Despite the delays, Spotify is now rolling out support for up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC quality streaming for paid users in over 50 countries through October.
User guide
How to enable lossless streaming on Spotify?
To enable the new feature, users will have to head over to Settings and Privacy > Media Quality and select "Lossless" quality for streaming on Wi-Fi, cellular data, and downloads. The firm has said that the feature is available across devices but needs manual activation for each device. This means it won't automatically apply across all devices linked with a single Spotify account.
Limitations
Streaming over Bluetooth not possible
Due to bandwidth limitations, streaming lossless quality tracks over Bluetooth-connected devices isn't possible. However, you can use Spotify Connect to connect with devices from brands like Bose, Yamaha, and Bluesound for Wi-Fi streaming.
Coverage details
Lossless support for nearly every track
Spotify has said that its new lossless streaming feature covers "nearly every track" in its 100-million-song library. However, there may be some tracks without lossless support. The move comes as a response to competitors like Apple Music and Amazon Music, which had already introduced similar features in their services. Notably, Apple Music rolled out lossless streaming in 2021, while Amazon Music made its HD tier free after launching it in 2019.