WASHINGTON — Spotify has officially launched its highly anticipated lossless audio feature, years after teasing the higher-sound quality option. 

The music streaming company announced Wednesday that it is rolling out the feature to its premium subscribers in select markets. 

“The wait is finally over; we’re so excited lossless sound is rolling out to Premium subscribers,” Gustav Gyllenhammar, the Vice President of Subscriptions, said in a statement. “We’ve taken time to build this feature in a way that prioritizes quality, ease of use, and clarity at every step, so you always know what’s happening under the hood. With Lossless, our premium users will now have an even better listening experience.”

Spotify said that lossless audio was “one of the most anticipated features” on the platform.

Lossless audio is coming to more than 50 markets through October, according to the announcement. Premium subscribers in Australia, Austria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, the U.S. and the UK have already started to get access to the new feature.

Simply put, it is higher-quality audio. 

The option now allows tracks to be streamed up to 24-bit/44.1kHz FLAC, allowing for greater details to peek through when streaming songs. 

The streaming platform said premium users will be able to listen to “nearly every song available on Spotify” in the highest quality.

The company initially announced that it would have lossless audio in February 2021. Spotify’s main competitor, Apple Music, has carried lossless audio streaming since 2021 and other streaming platforms such as Tidal have had it for years. 

Spotify allows users to customize their settings, including listening on Wi-Fi, cellular and options for downloads. 

The streaming platform lets users choose between Low, Normal, High, Very High and Lossless qualities. Due to the larger audio files related to lossless audio, Spotify is also showing users how much data each of the options require.  

The new feature is available on mobile, desktop and tablet as well as through Spotify Connect on Sony, Bose, Samsung, Sennheiser and more devices. 

Users will need to enable the feature manually on each listening device. Once it is on, an indicator will appear in the “Now Playing” view or bar or via the Connect Picker.

The streaming platform recommends users to stream lossless music while on Wi-Fi, using wired headphones or speakers on a non-Bluetooth connection, like Spotify Connect. Spotify explains that Bluetooth connections don’t provide enough bandwidth to transmit lossless audio, so the signal has to be compressed before being sent, possibly inhibiting the audio quality. 

To turn on lossless audio in the Spotify app:

1. Tap your profile icon in the top left.
2. Go to Settings & Privacy → Media Quality.
3. Select where you want to enable lossless audio: Wi-Fi, cellular, downloads.