What to know
- Recent UI leaks suggest Spotify’s Lossless is just around the corner.
- Spotify Lossless was announced back in 2021 but hasn’t materialized yet, while most music streaming services have brought lossless audio to their platform.
- Spotify Lossless will offer audio quality up to 1411kbps, and could even go up to 2117kbps for ‘limited songs’.
- Spotify Lossless will be compatible with Spotify Connect. You will, however, need compatible devices to get lossless audio.
After years of waiting disappointedly, Spotify users look at most leaks and speculations about Spotify lossless audio with a studied skepticism. And who can blame them? It’s been three years since it was announced and there’s little to no word on a definite release date! So whenever there are hints about its existence, we can at least remind ourselves that it’s not a matter of if it will happen ever happen but when.
To that end, here’s what the recent leaks tell us about Spotify’s lossless audio, why the feature matters, and whether or not you should get your hopes up just yet.
Spotify Lossless: Everything we know so far
For Spotify, lossless audio quality has ever been the elephant in the room. For all its UI and connectivity features, it’s almost embarrassing not to have lossless audio when most music streaming services like Tidal, Apple Music, Amazon Music, all have it.
Many who pay for an additional service like Apple Music just to get access to lossless audio may be running out of patience and dollars to blow on two streaming services monthly. So it’s high time that Spotify starts making the changes. If the leaked UI elements are any indication, Spotify’s Lossless feature could not just be in the works but (fingers crossed) arriving very soon. But take everything with a grain of salt.
In a flurry of seven screenshots, Redditor OhItsTom revealed various details about lossless audio, its toggle options, and release messages describing how to use this feature. Here’s a breakdown of what these leaks suggest.
Bitrate comparisons with other streaming services
One of the first things to notice on Spotify Lossless is its quality. As per the leaked screenshots, listeners could expect lossless audio quality up to 1411kbp. But it could go even higher, as seen on another screenshot that mentions a lossless quality of up to 2117kbps. This amounts to 15.9MB per minute. From the looks of it, Spotify Lossless will also provide support for the 24-bit/44.1kHz FLAC audio format, though that will only be available for “limited songs”.
Compared to other streaming services, like Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Tidal, Spotify’s Lossless is just about par.
Of course, lossless audio will only play when available. You will see a Lossless symbol (like a waveform) when you’re streaming in lossless. This will depend on Spotify’s server-side updates as well as what your device and network connection can handle. But for that there’s a compatibility checker and troubleshooter as well.
Compatibility Checker
The UI will mention if your device is compatible with lossless streaming. Lossless should work with Spotify Connect too. So if your smartphone doesn’t have an audio jack, which is a problem, you can connect it to a device that does, and use your phone to control playback wirelessly.
Quality adjustments for streaming and downloads can be made from the familiar Settings page.
Don’t let the look of Spotify in these screenshots sway you. OP is just using Spicetify themes to spruce up the app.
Can you get lossless with Bluetooth devices?
The debate over lossless audio has come and gone. But what can’t be denied is the fact that Bluetooth headphones do compromise the audio quality.
Lossless formats like FLAC and ALAC have little to no redundant information in them. But even though they pack all relevant audio date as efficiently as possible, they do require devices whose output is not limited in bandwidth.
Ideally, you should have a decent pair of wired headphones or hi-fi speaker system at home that can actually deliver lossless audio quality. The difference in sound is readily apparent with and without Bluetooth devices.
Spotify Lossless to be bundled with a new Supremium tier
In all likelihood, Spotify will bundle lossless audio as a premium product. Most reports point to a new more expensive ‘Supremium’ subscription plan, which may draw the ire of some existing Spotify customers. Compared to Apple Music, which offers lossless audio quality with its ALAC format at no extra charge, Spotify may lag in terms of value for money. But there’s little that one can do except give up on Spotify altogether or use roundabout ways to access Spotify’s music.
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We’ll believe it when we see it
All the information mentioned herein is based on leaked screenshots, which also corroborate to a certain degree the leaks from last month. But Spotify’s stayed mum on this thus far, perhaps because it knows that any announcement prior to actual launch will mostly fall on deaf ears. As far as most Spotify customers are concerned, who’ve seen such leaks come and go without anything substantive to follow, nothing less than seeing the lossless logo appear next to a song will make them believe. And that is how it should be, too. No one wants to see their hopes dashed, and we don’t want to eat our words either.
Whenever Spotify comes of age, we’ll be sure to update you with a full breakdown on Spotify Lossless. We hoped you enjoyed this guide and haven’t given up on Spotify Lossless yet. For all we know, it could very well be round the corner. Until next time! Keep dreaming.
