Lossless audio on Spotify is rolling out in 50 countries in September and October. — Photo: Fabian Sommer/dpa
BERLIN: After years of rumours, the world's market leader in audio streaming is getting its most sought-after feature: Lossless streaming is coming to Spotify, and not just for an extra cost, but for all Premium subscribers.
The company says lossless audio is rolling out in 50 countries in September and October and is available on mobile, desktop, tablet and Spotify Connect devices from brands like Sony, Bose, Samsung and Sennheiser.
Spotify says subscribers will be able to stream tracks in up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC for nearly every song.
To notice the difference in sound quality, you'll need to avoid using Bluetooth by using smart speakers or wired headphones, since audio is compressed for Bluetooth.
The upgrade may soften the blow of price hikes for some subscribers, after Spotify announced it would charge around 10% more for its monthly Premium subscription in several markets worldwide earlier this year.
Spotify says subscribers must enable lossless audio manually on each device in the settings. — Photo: Spotify/dpa
The flagship feature – already long familiar to users of rival services like Apple, Amazon and Tidal – comes as Spotify has also been dogged by renewed criticism from artists and listeners.
Spotify received backlash from some artists and users after its co-founder and chief executive Daniel Ek in June announced investments in German defence company Helsing, which aims to use AI to influence military decisions.
At the same time, the Swedish streaming giant's reluctance to label music generated by AI has drawn criticism from artists. Earlier this year, it emerged that The Velvet Sundown, a would-be band entirely fabricated by software, had generated millions of streams on Spotify.
Premium subscribers in the following countries have already begun to receive access: Australia, Austria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, the US and the UK.
Spotify says subscribers must enable lossless audio manually on each device in the settings.
To turn on lossless audio in the Spotify app:
- Tap your profile icon in the top left.
- Go to Settings & Privacy → Media Quality.
- Select where you want to enable lossless audio: Wi-Fi, cellular, downloads.
To make sure that users don't need to keep checking if the feature has appeared in their app, Spotify says Premium subscribers will receive a notification once lossless becomes available to them. – dpa
