Before you buy
How much data Spotify and music streaming use
Less than you fear, and more than it looks on a road trip. The figures by quality, and why it's worth downloading before you leave.
Dani Requena 5 min Photo by Austin Curtis on Unsplash Music uses little per hour compared with video, and on a trip it plays for hours at a stretch. That's the nuance that makes it turn up in the sums when nobody expected it, especially on a road trip.
The figures by quality
| Quality | Per hour, roughly |
|---|---|
| Low | around 20 to 30 MB |
| Normal | around 40 to 50 MB |
| High | around 70 to 90 MB |
| Very high | around 150 MB |
| Podcasts | around 30 to 60 MB |
On a driving day with six hours of music at high quality, that's half a gigabyte. Over a two week road trip, several gigabytes spent purely on having something playing.
What to do before you leave
- Download the playlists you'll listen to, on wifi and at home.
- Switch on offline mode during journeys, to be sure it isn't pulling data.
- Lower the quality for mobile data and keep the high one for wifi.
- Download your podcasts too, since they're long and get listened to in full.
The car detail
With your phone connected to the car, music plays for hours without anyone looking at the screen, and automatic playlists carry on once what you put on has finished. It's exactly the invisible usage scenario.
And on stretches with poor coverage the app retries the download over and over: it uses data and sounds choppy into the bargain.
Frequently asked questions
How much data does Spotify use per hour?
Around 40 to 50 MB at normal quality, roughly 70 to 90 at high and around 150 at very high.
Does music use a lot on a trip?
Not per hour, but it plays for many hours. On a road trip it can add up to several gigabytes if you don't download first.
How do I listen to music without using data?
By downloading your playlists on wifi and switching on offline mode during journeys.
Do podcasts use more or less?
Less than music at high quality, between 30 and 60 MB an hour, but they're long and get listened to in full.
Why does it sound choppy on the road?
Because in areas with poor coverage the app keeps retrying the download. With the music downloaded, that problem disappears.
