The wait is over, and the rumor mill can stop: the world’s leading music streaming service finally has high fidelity, lossless audio.
It’s only taken eight years, countless “almost ready” moments, and heaps of users leaving for other hi-res streaming services.
I’m quite excited that this is really here. I’m also pleasantly surprised that Spotify is adding the new high-quality streaming tier to its existing Premium offering, with many expecting the new tier to be a new subscription entirely. Of course, that could change in the future, but for now, all Spotify Premium users can try the 24-bit/44.1kHz FLAC audio.
Spotify’s hi-res audio tier is finally here
Let’s hope it was worth the wait
It’s been around eight years since the rumors of a Spotify Hi-Fi tier first started circulating. It’s been another four years since Spotify itself launched Spotify HiFi, raising our expectations with tempting phrases like “Beginning later this year, Premium subscribers in select markets will be able to upgrade their sound quality to Spotify HiFi,” and “Spotify HiFi will begin rolling out in select markets later this year.”
Little did we know, it would take Spotify another 4.5 years from that post to actually roll out the long-awaited Spotify Lossless tier, and help Spotify pull alongside Apple Music, Tidal, Qobuz, and even Amazon Music.
Spotify Lossless will bring 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC audio quality to Spotify’s enormous audio catalog, delivering higher-quality audio than your favorite CDs (at 16-bit/44.1 kHz).
It’s also worth noting that despite Spotify Lossless bringing hi-res audio to the platform at long last, it’s still not quite as good as its competitors. For example, Apple Music, Tidal, and Qobuz all deliver hi-res audio at up to 24-bit/192 kHz FLAC, which is a notch above Spotify. However, when you start reaching up to that level of audio quality, you need better hardware, and most folks find it difficult to truly discern the difference.
Spotify Lossless is coming to every Spotify platform
At least, that’s what it says
One of my biggest gripes with Spotify is that it often lacks feature parity between its versions. Often, new features arrive for Spotify’s mobile version but never make it to the desktop (like Spotify’s 2025 additions to Discover Weekly). Everyone pays for the same Premium service, but desktop users are frequently forgotten. It’s immensely frustrating as someone who primarily uses the desktop version.
Spotify has confirmed that Lossless will be “available on mobile, desktop, and tablet.” It’s also coming to most other devices that support Spotify Connect, such as those from Sony, Bose, Samsung, and Sennheiser, with support for other manufacturers such as Sonos and Amazon arriving “next month.”
You need to switch Spotify Lossless on—here’s how
It only takes a couple of steps
However, you will need to enable Spotify Lossless on each device you own. It’s not a universal switch in your account that applies to every place you use Spotify.
In each case, you’ll need to head to the Spotify settings on the specific device, then select the new Lossless quality option. Furthermore, you’ll have to enable this for the Wi-Fi, Cellular, and Download options if you want all-lossless, all the time.
At the time of writing, I am still without Spotify Lossless. But the company says that you’ll know when it’s your turn, as you’ll receive a notification in the app. When I opened Spotify, I had a notification… but it turns out it was for the notification. So, yeah, thanks, Spotify, for my momentary hype.
It’s time to start using your wired headphones
Or at least wireless with a hi-res Bluetooth audio codec, like LDAC
So, you’re suitably hyped about Spotify Lossless. The only problem is that now you need the hardware to go with it.
A pair of good-quality wired headphones is vital to making sure you can hear the full audio experience. But if wired headphones aren’t available and you’re locked into wireless, you can use one of the Bluetooth codecs that support hi-res audio, such as LDAC, aptX HD, LDHC, and so on.
That also means you’ll need to use a device that can output the same Bluetooth codec, and headphones or earbuds to match. You could give my new favorite Baseus headphones a try if you’re in the market for some new cans.
Spotify Lossless is rolling out in stages to more than 50 countries throughout October. Premium subscribers in Australia, Austria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, the US, and the UK are at the front of the queue and will start receiving the long-awaited notification from launch.
