In 2025, Spotify finally launched its long-anticipated HiFi—or more accurately, lossless audio—feature, but it is exclusively available to Premium subscribers. This move comes after years of delays and speculation since the feature was first announced back in 2021.

Lossless audio streaming delivers music in a digital format that preserves all the original audio information without compression losses typical in standard streaming. This results in higher fidelity sound quality, closer to what artists intended in their recordings. Spotify’s lossless streams offer up to CD-quality sound at 24-bit/44.1 kHz resolution in the FLAC format.

Importantly, this feature is not available to users on the free tier and can only be enabled by users with a Spotify Premium subscription. Those who qualify can activate lossless streaming through the app’s settings once it becomes available in their region.

Spotify’s rollout began in September 2025 across more than 50 markets, including major countries like the U.S., U.K., Japan, Australia, and numerous European nations. The rollout is expected to continue expanding globally over the coming months.

While Spotify now joins competitors like Apple Music, Amazon Music HD, and Tidal in offering lossless quality, it is notable that Spotify includes this capability at no additional cost beyond the standard Premium subscription fee. Users with Premium accounts can choose lossless streaming for Wi-Fi, cellular networks, and downloads.

However, users should be aware that lossless audio files require more bandwidth and storage space. To fully appreciate the improved sound quality, higher-end headphones or speakers are recommended, as typical Bluetooth headphones may still compress the audio.

This introduction reflects Spotify’s ongoing efforts to stay competitive and meet user demands for better audio quality, although it arrives several years after other platforms rolled out similar features. It remains to be seen how broadly the feature will be adopted and how it impacts user experience across increasingly diverse listening contexts.