Spotify Lossless Audio Costs More Than Tidal and Apple Music. But is it Worth the Price?

Spotify has officially begun rolling out Lossless Listening to Premium subscribers, bringing uncompressed audio streaming to its service for the first time. The company says Lossless streams in 24-bit, 44.1 kHz FLAC and will roll out gradually to Premium users across more than 50 markets through October.

Spotify says its goal was to deliver an upgrade that’s easy to use and intuitive in the app. Subscribers will receive an in-app notification when the feature arrives for their account and can enable Lossless in the app’s Media Quality settings.

Premium users in Australia, Austria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Portugal, Sweden, the US, and the UK can access it today. Unfortunately, we in Malaysia still need to wait a couple more weeks.

The feature is included with existing Spotify Premium plans. There’s no new “hi-fi” tier, and Spotify has not added an extra fee for Lossless at launch, a notable difference from earlier speculation that a super-premium tier might be used to monetise higher fidelity. That said, Spotify did raise the prices for its subscription globally, including Malaysia.

That price change came before the Lossless rollout was publicly available, which contributed to questions among some subscribers about what extra value the hike was funding and, of course, frustrations. In hindsight, it may have been smarter for Spotify to launch lossless first and then raise prices, rather than the other way around.

Supported devices and how to enable lossless

Spotify’s new Lossless streaming is available across its mobile, desktop, and tablet apps, and will also work with a wide range of devices through Spotify Connect. At launch, support already covers major audio brands like Sony, Bose, Samsung, and Sennheiser, with more partners, including Sonos and Amazon devices, set to come online in the weeks ahead.

The audio quality settings have also been expanded. You can now choose between Low, Normal, High, Very High, and the new Lossless option, with the flexibility to set different quality levels depending on whether they’re streaming over Wi-Fi, cellular data, or downloading for offline playback.

When you do enable lossless, tracks are stored in larger file sizes and may take slightly longer to start buffering, but you’ll gain much finer detail in your music. According to Spotify, you’ll be consuming 1GB of data every hour.

To turn it on:

One important caveat is that Bluetooth still compresses audio, meaning most wireless earbuds won’t deliver the full benefit of lossless streams. For the best experience, Spotify recommends using wired headphones, high-quality speakers, or supported devices via Spotify Connect.

Comparison: Spotify vs Apple Music vs Tidal in Malaysia

Before introducing Lossless, Spotify’s maximum streaming quality was Very High at 320 kbps Ogg Vorbis, a compressed format well below CD-quality. With the new rollout, Spotify now delivers 16-bit / 44.1 kHz FLAC, achieving true lossless audio, a major upgrade for casual listeners.

While Spotify has finally closed the gap on lossless availability, Apple Music and Tidal still offer higher ceilings and more advanced features for audiophiles, with both supporting hi-res up to 24-bit / 192 kHz, including Dolby Atmos and/or Spatial Audio.

Until mid-2025, Spotify was actually the cheapest mainstream option with its Individual plan costing RM15.90/month, compared to Apple Music and Tidal at RM16.90/month. The catch, of course, was that Spotify still lacked lossless audio while both rivals already offered it. (YouTube Music is also RM16.90/month, but it lacks any form of high-res audio)

Now, after the price increase in early August, Spotify’s Individual plan costs RM17.50/month, with Family at RM27.90/month. That makes it the most expensive of the three, even though Apple Music and Tidal continue to include lossless at the lower price of RM16.90 (Touch wood).

Timeline: From HiFi tease to final launch

Spotify’s journey to lossless audio has been one of the longest-running sagas in the streaming world. The company first announced “Spotify HiFi” in February 2021, promising CD-quality streaming for Premium users before the end of that year. The feature was meant to be part of a premium upsell and was positioned as a major quality-of-life upgrade.

But after the announcement, nothing materialised. In 2022, reports surfaced that Spotify was putting the HiFi option on hold with no timing details. A year later, in 2023, the company did eventually acknowledge the delay. Co-president Gustav Söderströmtold told The Verge in early 2023 that “HiFi is still on the roadmap,” but with no timeline other than “it’s coming at some point.”

A couple of months after that interview, reports circulated saying a “Supremium” tier was being tested, which suggested Spotify was weighing whether to put lossless behind a new paywall. However, it did spark speculation that a launch was imminent.

By 2024, the delay had become something of a meme among audiophiles and loyal subscribers. Amidst this, Reddit user OhItsTom shared screenshots showing leaked UI that showed Spotify’s HiFi was rebranded to “Enhanced Listening” and offered up to 24-bit FLAC at 44.1kHz.

More than a year later (more than four years after the original promise), Spotify finally launches the feature, now branded simply as Lossless and bundled into Premium at no additional charge. The rollout closes a long chapter of speculation and delays and finally places Spotify on the same level as its rivals in terms of at least offering CD-quality lossless.

For context, Tidal introduced lossless streaming as far back as 2015, while Apple Music added lossless and hi-res audio in 2021, right after Spotify’s initial HiFi announcement.

Conclusion: Popularity Beats Fidelity

Spotify may be years late to the lossless audio race, but that doesn’t mean it has lost. With 276 million paying subscribers and nearly 700 million users worldwide, it remains by far the dominant music streaming service. Apple Music, with around 95 million paid users, and Tidal, with a far smaller base, simply don’t have the same reach.

That’s because, unlike the latter two, Spotify has an ad-supported free tier, which significantly reduces the barrier to entry. For most listeners, Spotify is the default platform, and that is its greatest advantage.

This is not unlike Apple’s position in the smartphone industry. The company is often late to trends, but when it finally delivers, the scale of its ecosystem ensures mass adoption. In the same way, Spotify’s popularity means that millions will be exposed to lossless music for the very first time through this rollout, even if rivals offered it years earlier.

Of course, the irony is that most people won’t notice the difference. Lossless files demand more bandwidth, but the practical benefits are lost on most users who stream over Bluetooth earbuds. Bluetooth compresses audio, negating much of what lossless promises. But more than anything, most people just don’t care about “Hi-Fi” audio, or else Tidal would be the music streaming king.

Streaming has always been about accessibility and convenience, not audiophile perfection. And here, Spotify’s massive catalogue, personalised playlists, and global dominance matter far more than whether its lossless cap is 44.1 kHz instead of 192 kHz. But by finally closing this quality gap, Spotify ensures it won’t be left behind, even if it arrived late.

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