Spotify launches lossless music streaming with no extra cost

Spotify has finally launched support for lossless music streaming on its platform. This comes after years of teasing, with the first talk of it originating back in 2017. Unlike what past reports have suggested, the high-fidelity streaming option won't be offered in a new higher-tier subscription plan, which is good news.

Instead, lossless audio will be available as a part of the regular Premium tier, offering users the ability to stream at up to 24-bit / 44.1 kHz FLAC. While this is above CD quality, it's inferior to what Apple Music, Qobuz, and Tidal offer. To be specific, the latter streaming platforms offer support for up to 24-bit / 192 kHz streaming.

Of course, the difference between the higher quality option from other platforms and what Spotify offers will be hardly noticeable without proper audiophile gear. The company notes that lossless streaming will be available across all devices, but users will need to manually enable the option from each device that they use to stream music from.

At the current state, Spotify plans to roll out lossless audio streaming in over 50 countries by October 2025, including the US, the UK, Germany, Denmark, New Zealand, and Japan. When it becomes available, Premium users will get a notification from the app, and the feature can be enabled from the Settings and Privacy tab.

The company also advises using wired headphones or speakers to enjoy the lossless audio streaming option that it offers. After all, streaming 24-bit audio over Bluetooth isn't quite possible yet without high-resolution codecs, but the good news is that streaming over WiFi is possible with devices supporting Spotify Connect (Yamaha RX-V6A curr. $699.95 on Amazon).