Spotify has announced the launch of a new feature on Wednesday titled Lossless. The music streaming platform is rolling out its very first high-quality audio feature. Exclusively available to Spotify Premium users, it will give listeners the full experience of tracks as they were recorded in the studio. Here’s everything you need to know.
What is Spotify’s Lossless?
The feature allows Spotify listeners to stream music up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC. It is a form of compressed files that retains all of the original audio information as it was originally recorded. In other words, it is the highest quality audio available. When music gets streamed or shared online, it is often compressed and has removed some of the original audio information.
“Lossless refers to when there’s no change between what you deliver to a streaming service and what the listener hears,” Spotify Studios producer and engineer Jack Mason said on Instagram. “Without lossless, track files might get compressed in the encoding process, which might not lend to the best quality.”
The company noted that the feature was high in demand and that it would ensure music listeners have an even better experience.
“The wait is finally over; we’re so excited lossless sound is rolling out to Premium subscribers,” Spotify VP of Subscriptions Gustav Gyllenhammar said in a news release. “We’ve taken time to build this feature in a way that prioritizes 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.”
Other music streaming services also offer lossless audio. Apple Music launched the feature in 2021 and Amazon Music added it in 2019, according to USA Today. It is also only available to paid subscribers on these platforms.
How do you access Lossless on Spotify?
Lossless is being exclusively rolled out to Spotify Premium users. They will receive a notification once the feature is available to them. The company has started making the feature accessible to subscribers in Australia, Austria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, the U.S. and the UK. Starting in October, it will be available in over 50 markets.
Users will have to manually turn on the feature on each device in order to access it. First, tap your profile icon in the top left. Second, go to Settings & Privacy, then click on Media Quality. Lastly, select where you want to enable lossless audio: Wi-Fi, cellular or downloads. The Lossless indicator will appear in the Now Playing view or bar and via the Connect Picker.
Spotify is allowing users to choose the level of Lossless music quality between low, normal, high and very high. The reason for it is that Lossless music uses significantly more data than classic compressed audio files. Lossless users will be able to see how much data each quality level requires.
The streamer also recommends listening to lossless music via Wi-Fi using wired headphones or with speakers on a non-Bluetooth connection, such as Spotify Connect. It also noted that music may take a moment to play because files are so heavy.
“Currently, Bluetooth doesn’t provide enough bandwidth to transmit lossless audio, so the signal has to be compressed before being sent,” the company said. “Lossless gives listeners every detail of the music, which means the audio files can be larger. As users enable lossless on their devices, it may take a moment for the track to play. But once it’s cached and loaded, you are ready to listen.”
The feature is available on mobile, desktop and tablet, as well as on devices that support Spotify Connect such as Sony, Bose, Samsung and Sennheiser. Support for devices such as Sonos and Amazon will be available in October.
