Does Spotify use lossless audio?

While it’s sometimes controversial, there’s no doubt that Spotify is the world’s most popular on-demand music service. It’s a must-have on a lot of smartphones and smart home devices, and a platform that many musicians can’t afford to ignore, either. Apple and Tidal may pay artists better, but that hardly matters if there aren’t enough fans streaming your albums.

One of the smaller controversies involves audio quality. So then — does Spotify have a lossless option?

Does Spotify use lossless audio?

The big question for audiophiles

No, unfortunately. There are four compressed quality settings: Low, Normal, High, and Very High. Note that you can pick separate settings for live streaming versus offline media — you might choose Very High for streaming on your gigabit landline connection, for example, but just Normal for offline music, minimizing the storage footprint.

The company will eventually include a lossless option in HiFi, its long-delayed “ultra-premium” subscription. That was originally announced in February 2021, and should cost around $17 to $18 per month, according to CEO Daniel Ek. Rumors suggest that additional features could include things like better library management, more AI-enhanced playlists, and optimizations for headphones. We don’t know when HiFi will become available.

Why is lossless audio a big deal?

If you’ve got high quality speakers, you may hear the difference

For many listeners, it isn’t. While it offers the best possible quality, the gap between that and high-quality compression is indiscernible on most sound systems. You probably won’t notice anything on a pair of AirPods or Pixel Buds, or even most standalone room speakers. You should typically avoid lossless when it comes to listening on a phone or tablet — the benefits can be outweighed by lost storage and/or slower download speeds.

People with top-end speakers and headphones may get something out of it, however, and Spotify is unusual in the industry for missing the option. Competing services like Tidal, Apple Music, and Amazon Music Unlimited have offered lossless for some time. So while most Spotify customers will probably stick to their Free or Premium subscriptions, on a marketing level, it looks bad to be missing that bullet point.

Speaking of corporate affairs, Spotify’s biggest interest is no doubt in sustaining profitability. Although the company finally started turning a profit in 2024, licensing fees have been a major obstacle, and lossless could be a way of extracting more dollars from wealthier customers.