topic Re: Does Spotify play m4a files? in Desktop (Windows)

Does Spotify play m4a files?

inulol — Sat, 02 Feb 2019 13:17:23 GMT

Plan

Free

Country

England

Device

Operating System

Windows 10

My Question or Issue

Re: Does Spotify play m4a files?

Sebasty — Sat, 02 Feb 2019 15:56:20 GMT

Hey @inulol

By default, Spotify does not support lossless files, including ALAC in .m4a extension.

It does play AAC files that are also in .m4a extension.

However, according to this it should be possible to play ALAC files too, if you're on Windows 10 (it supports ALAC codec). I am not sure if it will work for everyone or not, but you can check it out. 🙂

Hope this helps, have a nice day!

Re: Does Spotify play m4a files?

tomekprague — Fri, 23 Oct 2020 10:57:30 GMT

hi,

yes, it does.

I've just converted some tracks from FLAC to ALAC (.m4a extension) using https://www.onlineconverter.com/flac-to-alac

Spotify plays these files without any problems.

I'm Spotify Premium member on Windows 10.

Please vote for Lossless Streaming at Spotify

Tomek

Re: Does Spotify play m4a files?

Jeremy — Fri, 23 Oct 2020 11:33:06 GMT

Hey there folks,

Thank you for your posts.

Even though some other file types might work, these are the ones that the feature is designed to work with:

.mp3
.m4p (unless it contains video)
.mp4 (if QuickTime is installed on your computer)
.m4a (unless it’s an Apple lossless file; ALAC or ALE)

These files must exist on the device, either outside of the app or by setting them to Offline inside the app.

To sync local files from one device to another, you must be actively logged in to both devices with Spotify open and on the same network.

If you still experiencing issues - make sure that the file isn't DRM (Digital Rights Management) protected.

Note: If you have iTunes, you can check for DRM protected tracks by following these steps.

If there's any questions we're always happy to help 🙂

Cheers!