Spotify first announced plans for superior sound quality more than four years ago.
Now it has finally arrived on the market-leading streaming platform – several years after its rivals launched their own upgrades for Lossless and spatial audio.
Lossless audio has started rolling out to premium listeners. Subscribers will receive a notification in Spotify once lossless audio becomes available to them.
Premium subscribers in Australia, Austria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, the US, and the UK have already started to get access. Lossless will be rolling out gradually to more than 50 markets during October.
“The wait is finally over; we’re so excited Lossless sound is rolling out to Premium subscribers,” said Gustav Gyllenhammar, VP subscriptions, Spotify. “We’ve taken time to build this feature in a way that prioritises quality, ease of use, and clarity at every step, so you always know what’s happening under the hood. With Lossless, our premium users will now have an even better listening experience.”
With Lossless, users can now stream tracks in up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC, which offers greater detail across nearly every song available on Spotify.
For the best listening experience, Spotify recommends streaming Lossless music on wi-fi using wired headphones or speakers on a non-Bluetooth connection, like Spotify Connect. This is because Bluetooth doesn’t provide enough bandwidth to transmit Lossless audio on Spotify, so the signal has to be compressed before being sent.
“Together with popular features like DJ, Jam, AI Playlist, brand-new Mix, and daylist, as well as playlists curated by our leading global music editorial team, the world’s most popular audio streaming subscription service continues to get better,” said a statement.
Custom settings are available for wi-fi, mobile and downloads to control how much data is used. The feature can be enabled on each device via the profile icon in the top left.
Lossless is available on mobile, desktop and tablet, as well as on many devices that support Spotify Connect, including Sony, Bose, Samsung, Sennheiser, and more. Support for additional devices, including those from Sonos and Amazon, will arrive next month.
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