BBC to stream The Proms in super high quality lossless audio in a UK first

The BBC has announced that it will deliver The Proms this year with FLAC level audio for super high-quality sound.

The Proms, celebrating its 90th anniversary, will be streamed for its full eight weeks via BBC Radio 3 in FLAC quality in a UK first.

FLAC, or Free Lossless Audio Codec, is a way of condensing audio for sharing where it can be unpackaged at the other end in a quality as good as the original recording - hence the word lossless.

This broadcast of The Proms will be a trail called BBC Radio 3 Concert Sound. The Proms will run from Friday 14 July to Saturday 9 September. More details will be shown on the BBC Proms website, including the line-up, from 20 April.

BBC Radio 3 controller, Alan Davey, said: “We’ve always innovated around the Proms, and this new lossless audio stream will let our audience experience the whole season in spectacular, unprecedented quality. The Proms are the biggest event in the classical music calendar, and this year listeners will feel as if they were standing in the arena of the Royal Albert Hall.”

Check out: Guide to lossless audio: making music sound great