Spotify Preparing to Launch Long-Awaited Lossless Audio Tier on iPhone

[MacRumors]

Spotify appears to be gearing up to launch its long-awaited lossless music tier.

Chris Messina (via TechCrunch) and Spicetify (via The Verge) spotted new lossless references within the code for Spotify's desktop app and web player.

With assistance from Aaron Perris, MacRumors has confirmed that the latest beta of the Spotify app for the iPhone also contains new lossless-related code.

Lossless songs retain all of the audio data from the original recording.

One line of code says Spotify's lossless audio will be 24-bit at 44.1 kHz.

"Introducing the best sound quality on Spotify: for music in up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz."

Lossless audio will be available to stream or download in the Spotify app on the iPhone, reads another line of code for the beta app.

In February, Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw reported that Spotify was planning to launch a Music Pro subscription tier that offers higher-quality audio, remixing tools, and access to concert tickets. The report said Spotify was considering charging as much as $5.99 per month for this perk, on top of the standard price of Spotify Premium.

It is unclear when Spotify will finally roll out lossless audio, but the report said that it aimed to make Music Pro available later this year.

Spotify first announced plans for a "Hi-Fi" tier with lossless audio in 2021.

2021 is the same year that most songs in the Apple Music catalog became available in lossless audio, at up to 24-bit/192 kHz. This perk is offered to Apple Music subscribers at no additional cost, so Spotify's offering is both late and will seemingly cost extra.

Article Link: Spotify Preparing to Launch Long-Awaited Lossless Audio Tier on iPhone

 

[MrRom92]

Jesus Christ how can you miss the boat this badly and still screw it up

 

[RealJerzy]

but no dolby atmos so virtually pointless

 

[FoxyKaye]

Thanks to partial hearing loss, I usually save money on these kinds of things, LOL.

 

[brilliantthings]

And we'll stream this lossless audio on Airplay 1? Idiots

 

[finalcut]

Thanks but way too late. I am satisfied with Qobuz

 

[NJRonbo]

Staying with Apple Music for the lower price, higher quality, and new iOS 26 AutoMix

 

[MilaM]

And we'll stream this lossless audio on Airplay 1? Idiots

Or even better, listen to it using Bluetooth earplugs, which have even worse compression 😂.

 

[Kulfon]

Spotify lost me to Tidal and Apple music 3 years ago. So not exactly lossless

 

[diskrisk]

Watch how they’ll charge more for a feature that comes at no extra cost from competitors and still pay artists 30% of what competitors pay.

 

[bpa1093]

Richard Hendricks - nice job bro

 

[sergekills]

Music would still be a better option!
Speaking from the perspective where I don't care about playlists or algorithms and choose the music I play myself.

 

[sergekills]

but no dolby atmos so virtually pointless

Do people actually use Dolby Atmos? Wow

 

[iObama]

I'll believe it when I see it. And when I see it, I won't care because literally every other streaming service beat them to the punch.

 

[Green Valkyrie]

Never got it with Spotify. Wasn't the first, wasn't the best. Does brilliantly on the promotion front I suppose.

 

[Apple MessagePad]

They're also going to charge more for it, while Apple and Amazon include it for free. But that's why Spotify is eventually going to fail. Apple and Amazon have other product lines, allowing their music services to be less profitable. Spotify on the other hand only has music. They give artists less than half what Apple does and they're still not profitable.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Do people actually use Dolby Atmos? Wow

No kidding. I turned that crap off as fast as I could.

 

[Naraxus]

Spotify can kick rocks

 

[racerhomie]

So, they are adding AirPlay 2 support after all their current customers die!

 

[AdamInKent]

I honestly can’t tell the difference between the lossless music on my music server and the sound quality from Spotify’s current subscription tier. Perhaps I’m too old (in my fifties) or don’t have good enough quality equipment (that said, I’m running a Sonos head unit through a pretty decent NAD amp and Monitor Audio speakers 🤷🏻‍♂️). So I won’t be paying extra for this.

My main concern is that they’ll lower the quality of the current top tier in order to encourage users to pay for the new top tier 😕

 

[neuropsychguy]

Do people actually use Dolby Atmos? Wow

All the time. I love the feature. It’s one of the reasons I stay with Apple Music.

 

[Junior117]

I honestly can’t tell the difference between the lossless music on my music server and the sound quality from Spotify’s current subscription tier. Perhaps I’m too old (in my fifties) or don’t have good enough quality equipment (that said, I’m running a Sonos head unit through a pretty decent NAD amp and Monitor Audio speakers 🤷🏻‍♂️). So I won’t be paying extra for this.

My main concern is that they’ll lower the quality of the current top tier in order to encourage users to pay for the new top tier 😕

No, it's not just you: I generally can't tell either (in my 30s, currently, but maybe my ears are simply bad). I don't even use Dolby Atmos on Apple Music, let alone the highest-quality audio (the "higher" the quality, the more difficult it is to tell), so I don't blame you for not caring enough to pay extra.

 

[Gengar]

Too bad their interface is a jumbled mess.

 

[dtemp]

44.1kHz isn’t high enough resolution.

Also, they need to bring this to the Spotify tvOS app, because that’s the place where people are most likely to have a high end home audio system: attached to a AV receiver with an AppleTV.

 

[KeithBN]

Do people actually use Dolby Atmos? Wow

Yes, regularly.
Makes quite a difference.