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Spotify has finally confirmed it is rolling out lossless audio streaming. The feature was first teased in 2017 and again announced in 2021, but it kept getting delayed. Now, Premium subscribers in select markets will get access over the next two months at no extra cost.
Unlike Apple Music and Tidal, Spotify will include lossless streaming in the existing Premium plan. There is no new HiFi or Music Pro tier, and subscription fees will stay the same.
The first markets to get the feature are Australia, Austria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, the US, and the UK. About 50 countries are expected to be covered soon.
Users will be notified in the app when lossless is available. They can then go to the media quality settings and enable it. A small indicator in the Now Playing bar and Connect Picker will show when lossless is active.
At launch, devices from Sony, Bose, Samsung, and Sennheiser will support lossless playback. Sonos and Amazon devices are expected to add support next month.
Spotify’s lossless audio is capped at 24-bit / 44.1 kHz FLAC, which is close to CD quality. Services like Apple Music, Tidal, and Qobuz offer up to 24-bit / 192 kHz, though most listeners may not notice the difference without high-end gear. This also leaves room for Spotify to add a “deluxe” tier for serious audiophiles later.
With this move, Spotify now leads ahead of YouTube Music, which is still the only major streaming service without lossless audio. Google has not announced any plans to add it.