Spotify says it still has plans to release a HiFi Lossless subscription tier, but it’s unclear when it will drop.
The streaming music giant first announced that a premium audio subscription was on the way over two years ago, alongside a rough 2021 release date. In the time since Apple Music brought lossless audio to its base subscription plan ($10.99/month) at no additional cost, and Amazon Music Unlimited ($8.99/month) also started offering lossless music for free.
This puts Spotify in a tough position because it had plans to launch its higher-quality streaming tier with a premium price tag. Why would anyone pay more for high-quality music on Spotify when its key competitors offer it alongside a base subscription?
In a recent interview with The Verge’s podcast ‘Decoder,’ Spotify president Gustav Söderström said, “We announced it, but then the industry changed for a bunch of reasons. We are going to do it, but we’re going to do it in a way where it makes sense for us and for our listeners. The industry changed and we had to adapt.”
The Verge says that the HiFi tier has been ready to release for more than a year and that internal Spotify employees have access to it. It’s believed that the feature will likely still release as a more expensive subscription option, but it will also include spatial audio, premium audiobooks and podcasts.
Towards the end of Söderström’s Decoder interview, the executive confirms that HiFi is on the way, stating that it’s “coming at some point.”
As important as high-quality audio is to some users, the feature’s audience is likely very limited as the average music streaming service subscriber doesn’t own headphones or speakers that are capable of really taking advantage of the additional audio fidelity.
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