How much data does Spotify or Apple Music use abroad?

Music is one of the cheapest things you can stream, but the quality setting changes the cost by more than ten times. Here are the published bitrates, converted into data per hour.

By eSIM Data Deals editorial deskPublished 6 November 2026Updated 6 November 20265 min readData usage by activity

Short answer

Spotify lists about 24 kbit/s for Low, 96 for Normal, 160 for High and 320 for Very high. That works out to roughly 11, 43, 72 and 144 MB an hour. Lossless uses far more. Podcasts on Spotify are about 96 kbit/s, or 43 MB an hour. Downloads made on Wi-Fi use no travel data.

How much data does Spotify use per hour?

Spotify publishes an approximate bitrate for each streaming quality. Data per hour follows from simple arithmetic: kilobits per second × 3,600 seconds ÷ 8 bits per byte ÷ 1,000 = MB per hour. That is kbit/s × 0.45.

Bitrates from Spotify Support, read 6 November 2026. Per-hour and "lasts" columns are arithmetic.
Spotify setting	Spotify's bitrate	Per hour	1 GB lasts about
Low	≈ 24 kbit/s	≈ 11 MB	90+ hours
Normal	≈ 96 kbit/s	≈ 43 MB	23 hours
High	≈ 160 kbit/s	≈ 72 MB	14 hours
Very high	≈ 320 kbit/s	≈ 144 MB	7 hours
Lossless	up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC	much higher; varies	a few hours
Podcasts (mobile)	≈ 96 kbit/s (≈ 24 on Low)	≈ 43 MB	23 hours

Spotify lets you set streaming quality separately for Wi-Fi and for cellular, and download quality separately again. In the app: profile picture → Settings and privacy → Media Quality. By default the app also adjusts quality to avoid stutters (Auto-adjust). That can lower quality on a weak line, but it won't hold it down on a fast one.

Bitrates from Spotify Support; MB/h = kbit/s × 0.45. "CD-quality, uncompressed" is 1,411 kbit/s. Lossless FLAC streams are compressed below that by a variable amount. Log scale.

What about Apple Music and lossless?

Apple Music streams AAC at 256 kbit/s in its High Quality setting. That is about 115 MB an hour by the same arithmetic. Lossless and Hi-Res Lossless use far more data and storage. To choose a cellular quality, go to Settings → Music → Audio Quality (on recent iOS versions, Settings → Apps → Music).

Two iPhone-wide settings also change what Music does on the travel line:

Low Data Mode: Apple says it turns off automatic downloads and high-quality streaming in Music.
Allow More Data on 5G: Apple lists Apple Music songs and videos among the higher-data features it enables. On a metered travel plan, choose Standard instead.

Why lossless is a Wi-Fi feature on a trip. Uncompressed CD-quality stereo is 1,411 kbit/s, about 635 MB an hour. Lossless formats such as FLAC and ALAC shrink that by an amount that depends on the music, but they stay several times larger than a 320 kbit/s stream.

How much data do podcasts use?

Spotify says podcast audio is about 96 kbit/s on mobile, falling to about 24 kbit/s if you set audio quality to Low. That is 43 MB or 11 MB an hour. Other podcast apps download the publisher's own file, so the size depends on the show. Most apps show an episode's file size before you download it, and that size is exactly what it will cost.

Video podcasts are video. Treat them like the streaming figures in our video data guide.

How do I listen abroad without using travel data?

Download playlists and episodes on Wi-Fi. Spotify Premium, Apple Music and most podcast apps let you save audio for offline play.
Set downloads to Wi-Fi only. Otherwise a big playlist can start downloading on the eSIM the moment you add it.
Set cellular streaming to Normal or High. Keep Very high and lossless for Wi-Fi.
Check podcast auto-downloads. New episodes can download by themselves. Apple says that in Low Data Mode, Podcasts only downloads episodes on Wi-Fi.
Read the per-app counter after day one. If the music app is near the top of the list, something is streaming or downloading more than you planned.

Worked example: a 10-day trip with music on the go

Example numbers, not an offer

Two hours of streamed music a day for 10 days is 20 hours.

Normal (≈ 43 MB/h): ≈ 0.86 GB
High (≈ 72 MB/h): ≈ 1.44 GB
Very high (≈ 144 MB/h): ≈ 2.9 GB
Downloaded on Wi-Fi before the trip: close to 0 GB

Music is rarely what breaks a data budget. Video, calls and laptop hotspots are. But on a small plan, the setting still decides whether music is a rounding error or a real share of your data.

Does music still work on a slowed connection?

Audio is the activity most likely to survive a plan's slower speed after a daily cap. Compare the line speed with the bitrate:

"Fits in principle" means the bitrate is below the line speed. Real networks add overhead and variation.
Speed after the cap	Fits in principle	Likely to struggle
128 kbit/s	Low (24), Normal (96), podcasts (96)	High (160), Very high (320)
256 kbit/s	Low, Normal, High (160)	Very high (320), lossless
512 kbit/s	Up to Very high (320)	Lossless

For a deeper look at slowed speeds, see what still works at 128 kbps.

What about audiobooks and radio?

Audiobook apps usually let you download whole books, which is the data-free way to listen on a trip. Download at home and check that the app is set to download on Wi-Fi only. Internet radio streams at a bitrate set by the station, typically in the same range as music streaming. If a station states its bitrate, the same kbit/s × 0.45 arithmetic gives MB per hour. When in doubt, run the per-app counter test for 15 minutes.

Frequently asked questions

How many hours of Spotify is 1 GB?

On Normal quality (about 96 kbit/s), 1 GB is roughly 23 hours of listening. On Very high (about 320 kbit/s), it is roughly 7 hours. On Low (about 24 kbit/s), it is more than 90 hours. These are worked out from Spotify's published bitrates. Real use can differ slightly.

Does downloaded music use data when I play it?

Playing a download doesn't stream the audio again, so it uses little or no mobile data. Apps may still contact their servers now and then, for example to check your subscription. Download on Wi-Fi before you leave.

Is lossless worth it on a travel eSIM?

Rarely. Uncompressed CD-quality audio is 1,411 kbit/s, and lossless streams are compressed below that by a variable amount. They can still use several times the data of Very high, so set lossless to Wi-Fi only and stream at High or Normal on mobile data.

Will music still play after my daily full-speed data runs out?

Often, at a lower setting. At 256 kbit/s, Normal (96) and High (160) fit inside the line speed in principle. At 128 kbit/s only Low and Normal do. Buffering depends on the network, so downloads are the safe option.

Sources and how we checked

Figures were read from these pages on 6 November 2026. Apps change their settings and rates; if a number here disagrees with the app on your phone, trust your phone's own data counter. See how we get our figures.