Spotify Introduces HD Lossless Audio for Premium Subscribers: Enhancing Your Listening Experience
Spotify is finally introducing HD lossless audio to its Premium subscribers in select markets, fulfilling a long-awaited feature request. The rollout of lossless audio will not be available on the free, ad-supported version of Spotify. Premium subscribers will receive a notification in the app once the feature becomes available to them, with a gradual rollout to over 50 markets through October.
The lossless audio feature on Spotify will allow users to stream tracks in up to 24-bit depth at a sample rate of 44.1 kHz using the FLAC compression algorithm. This ensures playback without losing any data from the original recording and is available across nearly every song on Spotify. Previously, Spotify offered the highest-quality audio using the lossy AAC codec with a bitrate capped at 320 kbps.
Spotify's VP of subscriptions, Gustav Gyllenhammar, expressed excitement about the introduction of lossless audio, emphasizing the focus on quality, ease of use, and clarity for an enhanced listening experience. The feature is available on mobile, desktop, and tablet apps, as well as on various third-party devices that support Spotify Connect. Additional device support, including Sonos and Amazon products, will be added in October.
Users can manually enable lossless audio on each device, with options to set preferences for Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity, as well as downloads for offline listening. Spotify offers a range of music quality settings, including Low, Normal, High, Very High, and Lossless, to cater to different preferences and data usage requirements. The app provides information on the data consumption of each option.
For the best listening experience with lossless audio, Spotify recommends streaming over Wi-Fi using wired headphones or speakers on a non-Bluetooth connection. Bluetooth does not currently support the bandwidth required for lossless audio transmission, necessitating compression before sending the signal. Users can activate the Lossless indicator in the Now Playing view or bar once the feature is enabled.
To enable lossless audio in the Spotify app, users can follow these steps: [Steps to enable lossless audio in the Spotify app]. With the introduction of lossless audio, Spotify aims to enhance the listening experience for its Premium subscribers, catching up to competitors like Apple Music and Amazon Music that have already offered similar features.