After eight years of speculation, Spotify is finally adding lossless audio to its platform. Rumors of high-fidelity streaming has been circulating since at least 2017 with the company claiming a Hi-Fi launch during 2021. But even as the buzz continued in the years since, there was little indication on the service’s arrival. Now, it appears Spotify is delivering on its promise at last.
According to the company, lossless streaming is now rolling out for Spotify Premium subscribers in select markets. This means the feature won’t be a separate higher-priced tier, but instead a free addition to existing Spotify Premium subscribers. Lossless streaming is opening up to users in more than 50 countries through October. Spotify states that those in Australia, Austria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, the US, and the UK should already start to see the feature on the app.
Once lossless audio is available, users should receive a notification and can toggle the feature via Media Quality in settings. In terms of hardware (Spotify Connect), lossless streaming is currently supported on Sony, Bose, Samsung, and Sennheiser, with Sonos and Amazon support to come next month.
It’s worth noting that Spotify’s lossless offering caps at 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC. Other services like Apple Music, Tidal, Amazon Music, and Qobuz all offer up to 24-bit /192 kHz. However, it’s possible Spotify may be saving up the higher bit-rate for a higher-priced tier.
As of now, it’s unclear when the South Asian market will see lossless on Spotify Premium. But given the usual trend for the smaller markets, it might be a few months away at least for Sri Lanka. Spotify itself hasn’t made any indication when other countries could expect lossless audio.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings