Spotify with default settings (96kbps) will use around 40MB of data each hour of music streaming.
I got this number by monitoring data usage on my phone after listening to Spotify for 1 hour. Based on this observation, if did my further math.
However, the amount of data used changes with the sound quality settings you are using to stream music.
Spotify Data Usage By Audio Quality Settings
Spotify comes with 4 options on audio quality settings:
- Low (24kBps) – 0.5MB of data for every 3 odd minute song. This accounts for 10MB of data usage for 1 hour of low-quality music streaming on Spotify. Although this seems like a data saver – which it is, the quality of sound on this quality is sub-standard with poor dynamic range and unclear beats.
- Normal (96kBps) – 2MB of data for every 3 odd minutes song. This accounts to 40MB of data usage for 1-hour with the default setting music streaming on Spotify. I would say, this is an ideal setting for people who are conscious about their mobile data usage, yet want to listen to decent audio on the go.
- High (160kBps) – 3.3MB of data for every 3 odd minute song. This accounts to 66MB of data usage for 1 hour of high-quality audio streaming on Spotify. Spotify premium members can access this option.
- Extreme (320kBps) – 6.6MB of data for every 3 odd minute song. This translates to 132MB of data usage per hour when you are streaming music with extremely high quality.
P.S – Here is how I decided that the average song is 3 odd minutes – “Songs now average 3 minutes and 30 seconds“
If you are lost on where to find these audio quality settings on Spotify – here are my screenshots to help.
How can you check how much data Spotify uses?
Now that you know where your audio quality settings are, all you have to do is go to the settings on your phone to check, the data usage by apps option. Listen to Spotify on the settings you prefer for an hour and then track the amount of data is used. At least that’s what I did to write this article.