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What Is Spotify Lossless Listening and Why It Matters
Spotify’s new feature, Lossless Listening, lets users stream music in 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC, which is a high-resolution, uncompressed format. In plain terms, it’s audio that’s almost identical to the original studio recording—rich, crisp, and full of depth.
Unlike standard audio formats that compress files and lose some quality in the process, lossless audio retains every detail from the original recording. This is especially important for audiophiles and anyone who wants to hear music exactly how it was intended by the artist.
“Lossless refers to when there’s no change between what you deliver to a streaming service and what the listener hears,” explained Jack Mason, Spotify Studios producer, in an Instagram Reel. This level of fidelity is a game-changer for Spotify, which has lagged behind competitors like Apple Music and Amazon Music, both of which introduced similar features years ago.
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How to Use Spotify’s Lossless Feature
If Lossless Listening is available on your account, enabling it is simple:
- Open the Spotify app on your mobile, tablet, or desktop.
- Tap your profile icon in the top left corner.
- Navigate to Settings & Privacy > Media quality.
- Choose where you want to enable lossless audio (Wi-Fi, cellular, or download).
Once active, a small icon will appear next to the track title to indicate that you’re listening in lossless quality. However, due to the large file sizes, Spotify recommends using wired headphones or speakers. Bluetooth doesn’t yet offer enough bandwidth to handle lossless audio files effectively.
Where and When Is It Available?
As of now, Lossless Listening is available to Spotify Premium subscribers in select countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Sweden, Japan, and a few others. The company plans to roll out the feature to more markets starting in October 2025.
It’s important to note that this feature only applies to music, not podcasts or audiobooks, according to Spotify engineer John Cieslik-Bridgen.
How Spotify Stacks Up Against Competitors
Spotify is playing catch-up. Apple Music introduced lossless streaming in 2021, and Amazon Music followed back in 2019. Both services offer the feature to their paid subscribers at no extra charge.
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Spotify Premium—required for Lossless Listening—costs $11.99 per month. The addition of this long-awaited feature could help Spotify retain its large user base and even attract new subscribers looking for higher audio fidelity.
For now, fans of high-quality sound can rejoice. Spotify may be late to the game, but its arrival in the lossless audio space marks a significant upgrade for music lovers around the world.
