Lossless audio might be finally coming to Spotify

Apple Music‘s got it, Tidal‘s got it, Amazon Music’s got it, so where’s Spotify’s lossless audio option?

In February 2021, Spotify announced that it was planning to launch a Hi-Fi subscription tier where users can enjoy CD-quality, lossless audio. It was supposed to launch later in 2021, which would’ve been more timely in order to compete with other streaming platforms that already have lossless audio as an option.

But now, three years later, there’s a lot of uncertainty on when Spotify Hi-Fi will launch, if ever. So if you’re wondering what Spotify Hi-Fi even is, when you will be able to use it, and what you can do instead of waiting for it, here’s everything you need to know.

The state of lossless audio on Spotify

The whole ethos of Spotify Hi-Fi is providing a lossless audio option for Spotify users. This would allow users to pay more to choose when they want to listen to lossless tracks, since it’s planned as a different tier of Spotify subscription from the regular Premium subscription. Since it’s going to be pricier, it will probably include more than just CD-quality audio to make it more worth it compared to other streaming platforms, but more on that later.

CD-quality or lossless audio here refers to music files with a bitrate of 1411kbps (16bit/44.1kHz), which is the quality of the music you would get on a physical CD. Currently, Spotify streams music at a maximum quality/bitrate of 320kbps, which is the equivalent of a high quality MP3 file (though Spotify uses the Ogg Vorbis codec instead of MP3).

The latest information we have on Spotify’s lossless audio as of April 2024 comes from The Verge, which reported on April 12 that a Reddit user found code snippets in Spotify for Android that point to a new add-on feature called “Music Pro.” The “Music Pro” feature seems to include not only lossless audio, but also a DJ remix feature that would allow users to slow down and speed up music.

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When Spotify will launch lossless audio, if ever

Since Spotify announced that Spotify Hi-Fi would launch back in 2021, all we’ve really been able to do is speculate on when it’s actually coming. First it was supposed to arrive “later” that year, and then it never came. Next, there was a forum post from a Spotify moderator in January 2022 who said it would be coming “in the future.” Later in 2022, TechCrunch reported that Spotify’s CEO indicated that licensing issues were causing delays in Hi-Fi’s launch. Even with the new information from The Verge about “Music Pro,” there’s no indication of when the feature will launch, but it does seem to be coming somewhere down the pipeline.

Then, in March 2023, Spotify’s co-president told The Verge that Hi-Fi would still be coming in the future, but wouldn’t say when. The Verge in that same article stated that they learned that Hi-Fi was already mostly complete, but Spotify was facing issues with regard to pricing.

The fact that Spotify is taking a long time to launch this is notable. Amazon Music has had CD-quality music since September 2019, Apple Music added ALAC as an option in June 2021, and Tidal launched FLAC support in July 2023. With other streaming platforms having big catalogs and lossless audio as an option, one would expect Spotify to be rushing to figure it out so they don’t lose subscribers, but that has yet to be seen.

Spotify Hi-Fi could cost more than other streaming platforms

There’s been speculation for a while now that Spotify Hi-Fi will cost $19.99. There was a survey given to some Premium subscribers about the possibility of a $19.99 tier, which seems to back up this rumor. But if lossless launches with “Music Pro” as mentioned earlier, it might not even be a fully different tier, but just as an add-on.

In September 2023, The Verge reported that a Redditor looked at Spotify’s code and found a “Supremium” tier that would cost $19.99, and include features like advanced sorting options and mixing tools, as well as 30 hours of audiobook listening monthly.

This price is pretty hefty compared to other streaming platforms. Apple Music offers lossless audio as part of its regular subscription for $10.99, and Amazon Music does as well for $9.99. So if Spotify is going to ask users to pay that much more for lossless, it would make sense if it includes other features like those mentioned above, as well as others like Spatial Audio or Dolby Atmos support.

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Alternatives to Spotify Hi-Fi

If you don’t want to wait longer for Spotify to drop the Hi-Fi tier, you have lots of other options for lossless audio, whether you want to stream it or buy it.

Other popular streaming platforms like Apple Music, Tidal, and Amazon Music all have lossless audio in their catalogs already, so you can start listening to high quality music immediately if you wish. Other streaming options include Qobuz and Deezer, which both allow you to stream music in FLAC format. If you’d prefer to switch to buying music rather than streaming, you can also buy music straight from artists on Qobuz and Bandcamp. You can also go the classic route and buy physical CDs from your favorite artists.

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For now, Spotify Hi-Fi seems to be indefinitely delayed, but hopefully, at some point it’ll be an option that Spotify users can make full use of. For now, it may seem like an elusive promise with seemingly endless waiting, but that’s just how it is sometimes in the tech world.