More than four years after first announcing its plans for lossless audio streaming, Spotify’s long-delayed HiFi tier appears to be back in development.
Newly discovered code in the app’s backend suggests the company is preparing to launch a higher-quality streaming option, potentially as an add-on to its existing Premium service. And while that doesn’t mean you’ll be listening to 24-bit audio tomorrow, it’s the most tangible sign in years that the feature might be inching toward reality.
Spotify HiFi: A timeline of waiting
Spotify first announced a “Spotify HiFi” tier in February 2021, with bold promises of CD-quality audio arriving later that year. And then… radio silence. Competitors like Apple Music, Tidal, and Amazon Music wasted no time filling that gap, offering higher-resolution streaming options, in some cases at no additional cost.
By 2024, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek pivoted from “HiFi” to promising a more vague “deluxe” tier. Then came a Bloomberg report in February suggesting that a new “Music Pro” subscription could finally deliver higher-fidelity streaming, possibly as a $5.99/month add-on.
The leak: A bit more than just hype
This week, tech product designer Chris Messina shared findings from Spotify’s latest app code on Threads. Key among them? Text referencing “Lossless music, now in Premium,” which implies the long-awaited feature could be rolled into the existing Premium tier – likely as an add-on rather than a separate subscription.
The code also mentions streaming at “up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz”. That’s higher resolution than Spotify originally promised (which was CD-quality 16-bit/44.1kHz), though still not quite up to the 24-bit/192kHz offered by Tidal, Qobuz, or Amazon Music.
Further confirmation came via Spicetify, a command-line tool for customising the Spotify client. According to the platform’s X account, a new version of the app (Spotify 1.2.66) now “mentions lossless in more parts of the UI”. The post also confirms that “lossless will be available on Spotify Connect & Web Player (per code I have seen).”
Spotify 1.2.66 mentions lossless in more parts of UI
#NewSpotify #SpotifyLossless #Spotify
Lossless (pigeon) is mentioned in "Connect to the device" sidebar & under the artist in NPB (Now Playing Bar)
Lossless will be available up to 24-bit/44.1KHz (FLAC + Widevine).
Lossless… pic.twitter.com/QYbqg1ZKN3— spicetify (@spicetifyapp) June 19, 2025
What This Means for Everyday Users
Of course, whether users will actually notice the difference is another question. For most listeners – especially those using Bluetooth headphones or everyday earbuds – the jump from 16-bit to 24-bit audio won’t be all that dramatic. But for audiophiles with transparent gear, or simply those tired of Spotify being the only major holdout, the change is both long overdue and cautiously promising.
The post Is Spotify’s HiFi lossless streaming actually coming? Leaked code says yes appeared first on MusicTech.
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