Spotify’s HiFi Listening Feature Is Here (Finally)

Spotify has announced that it is rolling out its long-awaited lossless audio feature for premium subscribers in 50 markets worldwide. With the new feature, subscribers can stream tracks in up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC (or CD-quality audio) on “nearly every song available on Spotify,” says a Spotify press release on the matter.

Lossless audio will roll out gradually across the 50 qualifying markets through October. Premium users in Australia, Austria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, the US, and the UK have already started to get access.

Spotify’s high fidelity listening feature has been a long time coming. It was first announced in Feb. 2021 at the company’s Stream On event and promoted by Billie Eilish and Finneas. Originally, the plan was to roll out high fidelity audio “in select markets later [that] year” according to the original 2021 announcement, but it never materialized. In early 2022, Spotify posted a status update to its community board, stating that HiFi was now on hold. “We know that HiFi quality audio is important to you,” the statement reads. “We feel the same, and we’re excited to deliver a Spotify HiFi experience to Premium users in the future. But we don’t have timing details to share yet. We will of course update you here when we can.”

At the time, many onlookers believed this higher quality listening experience was an opportunity for Spotify to raise prices, which would, in turn, amount to greater profits for the streaming service and more royalties for artists and songwriters. In 2015, Tidal launched a HiFi audio plan for $19.99 a month. In 2019, Amazon did the same by launching Amazon Music HD, a new HiFi tier that offered 50 million songs in 16 bit, 44.1kHz and “millions” more in Ultra HD (24-bit and up to 192 kHz) for an additional cost of $5 per month for existing Amazon Music subscribers.

But the hope for a new, higher-priced tier came to a halt in May 2021 when Apple Music entered the high fidelity race by announcing its “Spatial Audio” tier with Dolby Atmos at no additional cost to its users. Later that day, Amazon Music announced that its HD tier would now also be free for all users.

In 2023, Bloomberg reported that a so-called “Supremium” tier was in the works at Spotify. The tier was intended to be a higher-priced upgrade from its premium offering, likely including special features like lossless audio. To date, it has not come to fruition.

The announcement of its integration of lossless audio comes just weeks after Spotify announced its Mix With Spotify feature, allowing premium users to create DJ-level mixes and transitions between songs in a playlist. The company also recently added the ability to direct message (DM) other account holders.