If you’re considering a new mobile plan, or you're in a situation with limited mobile data, it’s useful to have a breakdown of how and where you consume data. An overview of your typical usage can help prioritise which apps to use. Many apps consume data even when not in use, leading to precious data being expended on unseen and unneeded services.
Spotify, the world’s most popular music app, allows users access to millions of songs, albums, podcasts and audiobooks. Customers can sign up to either a free ad-supported service or a paid ‘Premium’ subscription, which offers higher audio quality and the ability to download tracks to listen to offline, among other perks.
For such a ubiquitous service (Spotify has over 600 million unique users), the amount of data it consumes varies wildly from person to person. This is because everyone has different listening habits, and the rate depends on how often the app is in use and the chosen audio quality. Here’s a simple guide to understanding and estimating how much data Spotify uses.
What is Mobile Data?
Mobile data, also known as cellular data or mobile broadband, refers to any mobile device accessing the internet via a cellular signal, as opposed to a Wi-Fi connection. When a phone uses mobile data, it sends a signal to a cell tower, allowing it to access the mobile provider’s network and get online.
The volume of data transferred over this connection is usually measured in megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB). Most mobile phone contracts, prepaid SIM cards and eSIMs will permit a set amount of mobile data usage. For example, a 5GB travel eSIM will allow the user to transfer 5 gigabytes of data via this connection before it runs out. Accessing data-heavy content such as high-resolution videos will require more data than simple messaging or browsing.
How Much Data does Spotify use?
Two main factors determine how much data Spotify uses:
1) Time spent streaming
2) Audio playback quality
The first factor is pretty self-explanatory, but the second one may surprise some users. Spotify offers the option to adjust the quality of the audio playback - streaming high-fidelity audio requires a richer signal and consumes more mobile data.
A third factor stems from a recent Spotify update that allows video playback for selected songs and filmed podcasts. In these instances, streaming video will cause far higher data consumption than streaming just the audio. Another variable is that songs played on repeat will often get cached by the software, meaning re-listens will eat up less data than finding new tracks.
With so many factors at play, Spotify data usage varies greatly between users. Checking the data usage statistics in the phone Settings menu is the only accurate way to measure your own. If you’re new to the service, however, or thinking of trying it out, here’s a rough overview of Spotify’s data usage when streaming music at the four levels of audio quality available with a Spotify Premium account. The audio quality is given in kbps (kilobits per second) and mobile data usage in MB/hour.
At a standard audio quality of 96kbps, streaming music on Spotify will use approximately 42MB/hour
To put that into perspective, streaming a 4-minute song at standard definition on Spotify will use about 2.8MB of data.
Switching to a higher quality, such as 160kbps or causes data consumption to jump to around 72MB per hour. 320kb streaming will use about 144MB per hour.
Spotify Data Usage At Every Audio Quality Setting
1. Low
Audio Quality: 24kbps
Data Usage for a one-hour Spotify playlist at 24kbps: 11MB/hour
2. Normal
Audio Quality: 96kbps
Data Usage for a one-hour Spotify playlist at 96kbps: 42MB/hour
3. High
Audio Quality: 160kbps
Data Usage for a one-hour Spotify playlist at 160kbps: 72MB/hour
4. Very High (premium accounts only)
Audio Quality: 320kbps
Data Usage for a one-hour Spotify playlist at 320kbps: 144MB/hour
Auto-adjust quality
This is a default feature on the Spotify mobile app that adjusts the audio quality based on the local signal strength – in areas with weak signal, the app will automatically reduce playback quality to ensure it can keep streaming. While this is a useful feature, it can make it trickier to estimate your data usage over time. Auto-adjust quality can be disabled in the Settings menu of the mobile app.
How to Check Your Mobile Data Consumption
Most smartphones can provide an overview of data usage across apps in the Settings menu. To check data usage for your apps, go to Settings > Cellular/Mobile Data > View Data Usage. Here, you will be able to turn data access on and off for apps, as well as view statistics for data usage across individual apps and the phone as a whole.
This is useful when prioritising app usage in situations where you have limited data, as well as revealing apps that you might be unaware were even consuming data. Android devices provide the option to turn off background data, meaning Spotify will not use data unless it is open in the foreground of your phone screen (this prevents it from playing audio unless it is visbile onscreen on your phone).
5 Ways to Reduce Spotify Data Usage
- 1
Lower the Audio Quality
Downgrading the audio quality is the single most efficient way of reducing your Spotify data consumption, short of deleting the app altogether. If you usually listen to music through a small speaker, like the built-in ones on phones or laptops, then high-fidelity audio won’t make much of a difference anyway. The same applies to non-music streaming like interviews, podcasts and audiobooks. There is even an option to set different levels for Wi-Fi and cellular streaming - for example, you can tweak the settings to automatically play high-res audio when connected to Wi-Fi, and switch to low-res when using mobile data.
Limit the audio quality of your streams by opening the Spotify app, selecting Settings > Audio Quality and choosing your desired playback quality level. You can also toggle the Auto-adjust quality function on or off.
- 2
Turn on Spotify Data Saver
Data Saver is an option that immediately reduces the audio quality as well as removing the images, animations and videos that are usually displayed on-screen when a song is being played. It also provides the option to remove video from filmed podcasts, drastically reducing data usage.
- 3
Use the Spotify Sleep Timer
Many people choose to wind down with some music or ambient sounds before they go to sleep. A common data pitfall here is waking up in the middle of the night and discovering that Spotify has been streaming away and draining mobile data the entire time. The Sleep Timer function helps to avoid this by automatically shutting off the app after a predetermined time (5, 10, 15, 30, 45 or 60 minutes). When music is playing, open the app menu in the top right corner, select the Sleep Timer function and set the timer. Now you can drift off, safe in the knowledge that your mobile data won’t be gone when you wake up.
- 4
Listen on Wi-Fi
Listening over a Wi-Fi connection is the easiest way to reduce data usage with Spotify, as it allows access to all the app’s features, including high-quality audio, video and animations, without having to worry about it eating into your mobile data. Of course, the obvious drawback is this can’t be done on-the-go. In that case, a useful option is connecting to a Wi-Fi network and downloading music for later.
- 5
Download Music and Podcasts
Premium subscribers have the option to download entire albums, playlists, podcasts and audiobooks to their device for free. When they’re out and about they can then listen to this downloaded audio without mobile internet. This is the most practical solution for most paying customers. With a little forward planning, users can retain access to hours and hours of data-free content. To download something from Spotify, simply tap on the downwards-pointing arrow next to the name of the desired album, podcast or playlist.
How Does Spotify Compare to Other Streaming Platforms?
When compared to other streaming services, does Spotify use alot of data?
Apple Music
Apple Music does not offer a choice of playback quality – all songs are streamed at 256kbps. This makes it easier to track your data usage but detracts from the overall listening experience and removes the option to save data by dropping the bitrate when listening to non-musical audio, like podcasts or shows.
Deezer
Deezer is a French music streaming platform that offers a similar overall experience to Spotify. Like Spotify, Deezer offers a choice of playback quality, from a low bitrate of 96kbps to a high of 320kbps (about the same range as Spotify). As a result, mobile data usage by Deezer will be roughly the same as Spotify, provided you’re streaming audio, not video. In their most expensive subscriptions, Deezer also offers the ability to listen to songs in lossless, hi-res FLAC formats. This will naturally drain data faster than the other playback options.
TIDAL
Launched in 2014, TIDAL is a streaming service aimed at audiophiles, featuring high-quality streaming and fairer artist compensation (in contrast to the paltry sums Spotify pays its contributors). With a focus on pristine audio, TIDAL’s lowest-quality setting of 320kbps is the same as Spotify’s highest. As a result, TIDAL eats through mobile data, though it does offer the option to download music and listen offline.
Amazon Music
Amazon Music offers a novel pricing model: their basic service, Amazon Prime Music, is free for Amazon Prime members and feels like a slightly simplified version of Spotify Premium. For non-Prime members, Amazon also sells subscriptions to Amazon Unlimited. This paid streaming service provides ad-free access to millions of songs, podcasts and shows. Unlike Spotify or Amazon Prime Music, however, Amazon Unlimited follows TIDAL’s lead by offering HD streaming options. As well as the standard 320 kbps, Amazon Unlimited permits streaming in a further two tiers of HD (850 kbps) and Ultra-HD (a mind-blowing 3270 kbps). These last two tiers will burn through your mobile data almost immediately, so are only recommended to use with a Wi-Fi connection.
eSIM data plans
Using Spotify with an eSIM
Keeping an eye on your data usage is always wise, especially in situations where data is limited, such as travelling in other countries. With a travel eSIM, however, you can browse away abroad without paying roaming fees. A prepaid eSIM plan means you can travel across 160+ countries, while enjoying Spotify, Netflix or any other streaming service of your choice
Spotify Data Consumption - FAQs
1. How do I adjust the Spotify Audio Quality?
On the Spotify mobile or tablet app:
Tap on the profile image in the top-left of the screen and select Settings and privacy > Media quality. Here you can adjust the playback quality for audio and video streaming
On the Spotify desktop app or browser :
Tap on the profile image in the top-right of the screen and select Settings > Audio quality
2. I can't find the 'Very High' audio setting in Spotify
The 'Very High' audio quality setting is only available to subscribers of Spotify's paid service, Spotify Premium.
3. How do I adjust the bass in Spotify?
Spotify has an in-built EQ where users can tweak the mix to their tastes by adjusting the relative bass, mids and treble.
On the Spotify mobile or tablet app:
Tap on the profile image in the top-left of the screen and select Settings and privacy > Playback > Equalizer to adjust the EQ. The Playback menu also allows users to toggle other features, such as crossfading between tracks.
On the Spotify desktop app or browser :
Tap on the profile image in the top-right of the screen and select Settings, then scroll down to the graphical EQ to adjust the audio.
Important: Note that adjusting the audio EQ is not the same as adjusting the audio quality - it will not affect the bitrate or hourly Spotify data consumption.
4. How do I delete my cache in Spotify?
Spotify caches frequently played tracks on users' devices to load them faster on re-listens. Caching audio requires storage space and consumes mobile data. The Spotify cache can be cleared in the settings menu.
On the Spotify mobile or tablet app:
Tap on the profile image in the top-left of the screen and select Settings and privacy > Data saving and offline, then scroll down to Storage and select Clear cache. Songs and podcasts may load a little slower hereafter.
On the Spotify desktop app or browser :
Tap on the profile image in the top-right of the screen and select Settings, then scroll down to Storage and click the Clear cache button.
