Spotify finally brings lossless audio streaming, India release uncertain

After a four-year delay, Spotify introduces lossless streaming for Premium subscribers, at no extra cost, in select regions, but Indian availability is still unconfirmed

Spotify is bringing lossless streaming to Premium users at no extra cost. The audio streaming platform is finally delivering on the promise that it made to its users back in 2021. For context, Spotify in 2021 announced that it would introduce lossless audio streaming later that year. However, it is now rolling out after four years. The feature is rolling out gradually to 50 markets, including the US, Australia, the UK, and more. At the moment, it is unclear when the lossless audio streaming feature will be rolled out to Indian users. 

 

Spotify said that Premium subscribers will receive a notification in the app once Lossless becomes available to them, and then they will have to manually enable it on every device. Notably, when lossless is enabled, music on Spotify will stream in 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC, which it said would consume around 1GB of data per hour.

 

For consumers wondering what took the company so long, Gustav Gyllenhammar, VP Subscriptions, Spotify, in the blog said: “We’ve taken time to build this feature in a way that prioritizes quality, ease of use, and clarity at every step, so you always know what’s happening under the hood. With Lossless, our premium users will now have an even better listening experience.”

 

For the uninitiated, "Lossless refers to when there's no change between what you deliver to a streaming service and what the listener hears," Jack Mason, Spotify Studios producer and engineer, said in an Instagram Reel. "Without lossless, track files might get compressed in the encoding process, which might not lend to the best quality." 

Lossless audio in Spotify compatibility

Spotify said for the highest-quality playback, lossless music is best streamed over Wi-Fi with wired headphones or speakers through a direct, non-Bluetooth connection such as Spotify Connect. It added that presently Bluetooth lacks the bandwidth needed for true lossless transmission, meaning the audio must be compressed before it reaches your device.

 

While highlighting compatibility with audio devices, Spotify wrote: “Lossless is available on mobile, desktop, and tablet, as well as on many devices that support Spotify Connect, including Sony, Bose, Samsung, Sennheiser, and more. Support for additional devices, including those from Sonos and Amazon, arrives next month.”

 

The company has also given a disclaimer to users. Since lossless audio files are larger than usual, once a user clicks to play it, the music will take some time to get cached and loaded and then only it will play.

How to enable Lossless

To turn on lossless audio in the Spotify app, follow the steps below:

• Tap your profile icon in the top left.
• Go to Settings and Privacy, then tap on Media Quality.
• Select where you want to enable lossless audio: Wi-Fi, cellular, downloads.