Spotify lossless is here: what to deliver so your release sounds right

Spotify has started streaming lossless audio to Premium subscribers, at up to 24-bit/44.1kHz FLAC. It's rolling out to more than 50 markets through October, starting with the US, UK, Germany, Japan, Australia and seven others. The Verge reports that Spotify confirmed prices won't change. There's no new HiFi tier.

For listeners, this is a setting. For artists, it raises a question most never had to ask: is the file my distributor sent Spotify actually my master? Lossless only plays what's in the catalogue. If you delivered a reduced copy, the best Spotify can do is play that copy back exactly.

We checked the help pages quoted here on 23 October 2026. Distributor specs change, so look again before you upload.

What does Spotify actually ask for?

Spotify for Artists has a short audio file formats page, and it's more specific than most artists realise:

• Format: FLAC is strongly preferred. WAV is accepted if it meets the same requirements, and Spotify converts it to FLAC without loss.
• Sample rate: 44.1kHz or higher.
• Bit depth: 24-bit if that is the native master. 16-bit only if no higher bit-depth master exists.
• Channels: stereo, and one master per track.

Then come the instructions that matter. Spotify says not to downsample, not to make a 16-bit version from a 24-bit master, and not to deliver both. It does those conversions itself. Anything above 24-bit is reduced internally to at most 44.1kHz/24-bit FLAC. Files below 16-bit or below 44.1kHz are upconverted but "will not be eligible for lossless playback".

So the ceiling for listeners is 24-bit/44.1kHz. If you mastered at 48kHz or 96kHz, Spotify wants that file, not one you converted yourself. We read the 16-bit rule as meaning a CD-quality master still qualifies for lossless playback, just not at 24-bit.

There's also a technical catch for WAV. Spotify says WAV files must use the plain PCM format code and not WAVE_FORMAT_EXTENSIBLE. If your export dialog offers a choice, pick plain PCM. FLAC sidesteps the question.

Where do distributors fit in?

If you release through a distributor, its upload spec is the real limit, and the specs don't agree.

CD Baby asks for WAV or FLAC, stereo, 44.1kHz, 16-bit (MP3 accepted but not recommended). Its troubleshooting steps say a "common mismatch" is a 24-bit/48kHz file, which "needs to be converted down" to 16-bit/44.1kHz. That page was last edited on 30 July 2026, nearly a year after Spotify launched lossless. It tells artists to do exactly what Spotify's page says not to.

TuneCore recommends 24-bit/192kHz WAV and accepts 16-bit/44.1kHz. Its own distribution guide still lists only the 16-bit/44.1kHz spec. The support article also labels the 24-bit/192kHz recommendation "1411 kbps". By our arithmetic, that's the bit rate of 16-bit/44.1kHz stereo (44,100 × 16 × 2), not 24-bit/192kHz, which works out at about 9,216 kbps. It's a small error, but a sign the page was written for CD-era uploads and patched later.

We couldn't open DistroKid's help centre (it refused our requests), so we don't quote its limits here. If you use it, or anyone else, check the upload spec on the day.

What should you deliver? A step-by-step

1. Ask your mastering engineer what the native master is. You want the bit depth and sample rate it was mastered at, for example 24-bit/48kHz. Write it down for each track.
2. Request a FLAC or a plain PCM WAV at that resolution. If you export WAV yourself, look for a "WAV (PCM)" or "standard WAV" option rather than "extensible", and keep it stereo.
3. Open your distributor's upload spec before you upload. On CD Baby that's the help page above. On TuneCore it's the "Uploading Audio Files" article. Note the highest bit depth and sample rate it accepts.
4. If the distributor accepts your native file, upload it unchanged. Let Spotify do the downsampling, as its page asks.
5. If it caps you lower (CD Baby's 16-bit/44.1kHz, say), get the conversion done once, properly. Ask your engineer for a 16-bit/44.1kHz file made from the master, rather than running it through a free online converter. Your release will still qualify for lossless on Spotify, at 16-bit.
6. Check the file before uploading. On Windows, right-click it and open Properties, then the Details tab. On a Mac, use Get Info. CD Baby's page says a 16-bit/44.1kHz WAV shows a bit rate of 1,411 kbps and a sample rate of 44.100 kHz.
7. After release, listen on Spotify with lossless switched on. In the app, tap your profile picture, then go to Settings and privacy, then Media quality, and choose Lossless for Wi-Fi, mobile data or downloads. A Lossless badge appears in the Now Playing view. Use wired headphones.

Checklist

• Native master resolution written down for every track
• FLAC, or PCM WAV (not extensible), stereo, one master per track
• At least 44.1kHz and 16-bit, so it stays eligible for lossless
• No "just in case" downsampling if your distributor accepts the native file
• Distributor spec checked on upload day
• Lossless playback checked on wired headphones after release

Lossless doesn't change loudness. Spotify still normalises playback, so the advice in our loudness normalisation guide still applies.

Why can't Bluetooth carry it?

Spotify says so in its own announcement: "Currently, Bluetooth doesn't provide enough bandwidth to transmit lossless audio." It recommends wired headphones or speakers, or Spotify Connect over Wi-Fi. At launch, Connect support covered devices from Sony, Bose, Samsung and Sennheiser, with Sonos and Amazon to follow.

The numbers explain why. Uncompressed 24-bit/44.1kHz stereo is about 2,117 kbps (44,100 × 24 × 2), and 16-bit is 1,411 kbps. FLAC shrinks that, by how much depends on the music. Sony's LDAC, one of the higher-rate Bluetooth codecs, tops out at 990 kbps, and Sony doesn't call it lossless. Our reading is that most of the 24-bit stream gets re-encoded before it reaches the earbuds.

In practice, a lot of your audience will hear your 24-bit master through a lossy Bluetooth link. That's no reason to deliver less. It's a reason not to pay for a "hi-res" remaster just for Spotify.

What we think

Lossless at no extra cost is good for listeners, and Spotify's delivery page is clear and sensible: send what you made, and we'll handle the rest. The weak link is now the distributor, not the platform.

Distributors should catch up. A help page edited in mid-2026 that tells artists to convert 24-bit files down is out of step with the biggest service those files go to. When the instructions conflict, the artist pays: either they reduce a master Spotify would have taken as it is, or they guess. If your distributor caps uploads at 16-bit, that's a fair question to put to them before your next release, and a fair reason to compare.

The win goes to people who kept their files. Spotify's rule is "native master", so artists who kept their 24-bit masters, and engineers who label exports clearly, get the most out of this. Old releases that went out as 16-bit, or worse as MP3, can't be improved by a settings toggle. Whether you can swap in a better file is a question for your distributor, and worth asking only for catalogue that still earns.

Don't oversell the difference. Even The Verge suggests that 24-bit is hard to tell apart without serious equipment, and Bluetooth erases much of it anyway. Deliver the right file because it costs you nothing. Don't spend money on a remaster just to chase a badge.