Spotify is an integral part of every day for audiophiles but it can be tough when you have access to a limited amount of data daily. If you’re concerned about how much data Spotify uses per hour, minute, or song, this quick guide will help you. It’ll also help you reduce your data expenditure on Spotify.
In the era of digitalization, we need data for almost everything. If you want to watch movies and shows, you’ll have to use data to stream on Netflix, Hulu, or any other streaming service. Similarly, when you want to listen to your favourite songs, you need data to stream them on Spotify. But how much? Let’s find out.
How Much Data Does Spotify Use On Each Quality Setting?
The amount of data Spotify uses for each music streaming session depends on your chosen audio quality. For instance, if you play songs on the Low-Quality option, you will need comparatively less data than streaming on High Quality.
We have simplified how much data Spotify needs per hour and minute and what 1 GB will provide for every sound quality setting. Just take a look here, and you’ll know:
Low (24kbps):
- 0.18MB per Minute
- 10.8MB per hour
- 92.5 Hours for 1GB
Normal (96kbps):
- 0.72MB per Minute
- 43.2MB per Hour
- 23.1 Hours for 1GB
High (160kbps):
- 1.2MB per Minute
- 72MB per Hour
- 13.8 Hours for 1GB
Very High (320kbps):
- 2.4MB per Minute
- 144MB per Hour
- 6.9 Hours for 1GB
Remember that these data estimations are approximate and not accurate. The specific amount of data you may utilize may vary slightly from these figures. You should also note that the “Very High” audio quality is only available for Premium subscribers. Free users don’t have access to the option.
How Much Data Does Spotify Use Per Hour & Minute?
Spotify users have four different audio quality options (five, if we include “Automatic). The amount of data Spotify will use will vary based on these. However, according to a survey, most Spotify users stream music on Normal and High-quality options, while Very High is exclusively available to Premium subscribers.
According to this, the answer to how much data Spotify use per hour will be around 43.2MB to 72MB, and if you want to know the figures for ‘per minute’, then it’s 0.72MB to 1.2MB. On average, Spotify needs around 500KB of data to stream one minute of music. It doesn’t take much data to play your fav songs.
How Much Data Does Spotify Use For A Song?
The amount of data Spotify uses for each song is based on two key factors- the length of the song and the audio quality if you have opted for it. Every song will need a different amount of data due to varying lengths and other factors. However, we can still find an average.
In 2020, an average song was 3 and a half minutes long. If you are playing it at the lowest quality, it comes to 0.6MB per song, but if you’re playing it at High Quality, it takes around 4.2MB of data to play a song. Spotify Premium subscribers can play it on the Very High audio setting to burn around 8.4MB of data.
If you’re looking for an estimate for albums, then an average album includes 12 songs. This means you will need around 50MB to 100MB of data to play an album on Spotify. Remember that these figures are only estimates and the actual ones will vary for each user.`
How To Save Data While Streaming Music On Spotify?
If you are on a limited data plan and don’t want to use too much while playing songs or podcasts on Spotify, there are several things you can do. The first thing you can do is switch up the Audio Quality from the Spotify app. It’s set to “Automatic” by default which uses data based on your network.
However, this may stream songs at the highest available quality, and you will use much data. You can change it and use a defined audio quality option that you’d like. For most sessions, you can play songs of Normal quality to save data, while using the Low-Quality option will require the least data.
Apart from this, there are several other settings that you can alter in the Spotify app to save a significant amount of data. Firstly, turn on Data Saver by going to the Setting menu and then turning its toggle on. This will disable all the catchy visuals playing when you listen to the songs and do something else.
Another thing you can do is disable Autoplay in the app. This way, Spotify will stop playing music when your playlist is over. It would be helpful to play songs before sleeping or while driving. You don’t have to close the app manually and wait for your playlist to last.
How To Change Audio Quality In Spotify App?
If you want to change the Audio Quality in the Spotify app, follow these steps:
- Launch Spotify and ensure you are signed in.
- Now tap on the Gear icon to go to settings.
- Scroll down and find the Audio Quality section.
- Here, adjust the sound quality for WiFi Streaming, Cellular Streaming, and Download.
- Set the Cellular Streaming to “Normal” from the drop-down menu.
That’s it. You can also set the audio quality to “Low” to save the most data. However, we’d recommend using the Normal one for optimal quality and data expenditure.
How To Download Songs On Spotify?
Spotify allows users to download songs when they are Premium subscribers. The app doesn’t allow free users to save songs and play them offline. If you are a Spotify Premium user, you can download songs on WiFi to play them when you can access a limited amount of data.
This way, you can save a lot of data without compromising your music listening experience. However, if you don’t have Spotify Premium, you can’t download songs within the app for offline listening. One would think that it’s impossible to download songs from Spotify without premium, but it isn’t.
We have a brief guide on how to download songs from Spotify without Premium. You can go through it and learn how to save your favourite songs, albums, and playlists for listening offline.
Spotify Data Usage Vs Apple Music, Tidal, And Deezer:
Now let’s look at how much data Spotify’s competitors like Apple Music, Tidal, Deezer, and YouTube Music use for every minute, hour, song, or session. These music streaming services have similar quality options as Spotify and consume a similar amount of data to play songs.
However, Deezer and TIDAL have introduced the HiFi streaming tier, which has yet to become available on Spotify despite being announced a couple of years ago. The HiFi option streams music at 1,411kbps, consuming around 500MB of data per hour.
Beyond that, TIDAL also has a Master Quality that plays music at 9,216kbps and consumes around 750MB per hour. Meanwhile, Apple Music and YouTube Music have the most played bitrates of 256kbps which use around 115MB of data per hour.
If you are playing songs on Apple Music’s proprietary Lossless Audio Codec format, then it streams audio up to 24-bit at 48kHZ and uses around 36MB of data for a three-minute song. You’ll need a similar amount of data for most music streaming services.
Frequently Asked Questions:
A: The amount of data Spotify uses per month depends on the number and length of your streaming sessions and the audio quality at which you are playing the songs. However, if we take an average of using Spotify for one-hour sessions twice a day over 22 workdays in a month on High Quality, it will use around 3GB of data.
A: If you have 2GB of data, you can use it to play songs on Spotify for the following hours on each audio quality setting:
Low: 185 hours
Normal: 46.2 hours
High: 27.6 hours
Very High: 13.9 hours
A: Yes, 1GB of data is more than enough for playing songs on Spotify as you get around 23 hours of streaming on High Quality and even more on lower quality options.
A: No, you won’t need data for playing songs downloaded on Spotify. You can play them without turning on data or being connected to WiFi.
Final Words:
Spotify uses a lot of data when you’re not on the right set of settings. Now you know how much data the music streaming app requires for an hour, minute, or song. However, it’s hard to determine the exact data amount used. You can still track it and save it accordingly.
Several factors affect the data usage on Spotify. If you have played a song once and then are playing it again, the app may cache it and use less data the next time. The app doesn’t take much data; you can even reduce it with simple workarounds.
That’s all for this guide. Feel free to use the comment box if you have any doubts or queries regarding anything shared here. We’ll be glad to help you more.
This is Saquib, a technology and social media expert with over 10 years of experience in the industry. With a passion for staying up-to-date on the latest developments and trends in the tech and social media world and as a writer, I have been creating informative and engaging content that is easy for readers to understand and enjoy, also published in several leading tech and social media publications and is a regular speaker at industry events. In addition to my writing and speaking engagements, I also work as a consultant, helping businesses grow with the ever-changing tech and social media niche.
