(Credit: Spotify)
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After keeping users waiting for years, Spotify has finally announced lossless audio streaming for its Premium subscribers.
Unlike regular audio formats like MP3 and AAC, which remove certain details while compressing an audio file, the lossless format preserves every detail from the original recording.
Spotify has been teasing the high-fidelity format for years. The streamer announced the format as Spotify HiFi in 2021, but it never rolled out. Rumors about its arrival made the rounds again this year, with one report even suggesting Spotify could add a dedicated Music Pro tier for it.
Thankfully, Spotify Lossless isn't bound to a new subscription. It will roll out to Premium subscribers in 50 major markets, including the US, the UK, Sweden, and Australia, by the end of October. At launch, the service supports up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC, which, as The Verge notes, is lower than Apple Music, Tidal, and Qobuz's 24-bit/192 kHz. (Rivals have offered it for years.)
Once available, Lossless must be manually enabled on mobile, desktop, or tablet. You'll have to do this separately for each device. Tap your profile icon > Settings & Privacy > Media Quality and select where you want to enable the feature: Wi-Fi, cellular, or downloads.
Note that one hour of Lossless music will consume up to 1GB of your data. Once it's turned on, your Now Playing view or bar will show a green indicator. For the best experience, Spotify recommends "streaming lossless music on Wi-Fi using wired headphones or speakers on a non-Bluetooth connection."
The feature also works with speakers and headphones from Sony, Bose, Samsung, Sennheiser, and others that support Spotify Connect. Support for Sonos and Amazon hardware will be added next month.