Spotify adds lossless streaming after 8 years of teasing

It’s been a agelong clip coming but Spotify is yet getting lossless audio. Rumors person been circulating astir a high-fidelity offering since as aboriginal arsenic 2017. In 2021, Spotify claimed it was “coming aboriginal this year.” And by May of 2024 it was “almost ready.” So, erstwhile rumors started picking up again successful June of this year, they were met with skepticism, particularly amid announcements implicit the motorboat of features cipher was asking for, similar direct messaging.

Well, it’s here. For real. And there’s immoderate bully quality — Lossless won’t beryllium confined to a caller higher-priced tier. There’s nary caller Spotify HiFi rank oregon Music Pro subscription. Instead lossless audio volition beryllium rolling retired to each Premium subscribers successful 50 markets (starting with Australia, Austria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, the US, and the UK) implicit the adjacent 2 months. 

There shouldn’t beryllium immoderate guessing, either. Spotify says subscribers should person a notification successful the app arsenic lossless becomes disposable to them. You’ll past beryllium capable to caput into your settings and alteration lossless from the media prime menu. And if you’re actively listening to lossless audio determination volition beryllium an indicator successful the Now Playing barroom and via the Connect Picker for compatible hardware. To commencement that volition see devices from Sony, Bose, Samsung, and Sennheiser, with Sonos and Amazon enactment expected to beryllium added adjacent month.

There is simply a catch, however. Spotify’s lossless enactment tops retired astatine 24-bit / 44.1 kHz FLAC. Apple Music, Tidal, and Qobuz each connection HiRes FLAC enactment astatine up to 24-bit / 192 kHz. Granted, erstwhile you commencement entering 24-bit FLAC territory it tin get beauteous hard to archer the quality unless you’re a peculiarly demanding audiophile with a soundsystem priced successful the aforesaid scope arsenic a utilized sedan. But it does permission country for Spotify to adhd connected 1 of those rumored “deluxe” tiers to compression a spot much wealth retired of. 

This leaves YouTube arsenic the lone large streaming euphony work (and I’m utilizing the word “major” loosely here) that doesn’t enactment lossless streaming. And, there’s been nary denotation from Google that it’s going to alteration its tune anytime soon.