It’s been well over two years since streaming giant Spotify first announced they were going to be offering a high-fidelity tier. This was before Apple Music and Amazon made a move to just completely shift to lossless streaming for no extra charge in response to this announcement. Spotify’s plans to go HiFi have taken a while to come to fruition since then, but it looks like they’re finally almost ready to launch. However, this might come at a higher price.
Why Has Spotify HiFi Been Delayed?
With Apple and Amazon making moves shortly after Spotify’s initial announcement back in 2021, it might be easy to put two and two together. It was an aggressive move that happened to work out well for both Apple Music and Amazon Music HD. Not only did they make their entire music selection completely lossless, but they’ve also upgraded to Hi-Res sample rates, and have also offered new audio ventures like spatial audio. However, Spotify’s CEO Daniel Ek did express that the delay being caused by licensing issues.
No matter what you believe, it seems like Spotify is finally ready to release its HiFi streaming tier. Bloomberg reported that we can expect to see Spotify go lossless later this year. International markets will be the first to receive this new update, with a US release planned shortly after. It seems like October will be when it launches.
Should You Pay More For Spotify HiFi?
From reports, it’s looking like Spotify’s HiFi tier will be a part of a new premium subscription that will cost $19 a month. This is ten dollars more than their current premium plan, matching Tidal’s HiFi Plus subscription plan, which offers Dolby Atmos tracks, Sony 360 Reality Audio tracks, and MQA(soon to also offer Hi-Res).
It isn’t known if Spotify has plans to feature anything beyond CD-quality streaming or any form of spatial audio listening. Knowing you could be getting more for the same price might impact your decision on whether to choose Spotify’s lossless tier. If you primarily listen to Bluetooth headphones and earbuds though, you probably won’t find a reason to pay for a more expensive plan. More information about Spotify’s new premium plan could change opinions toward increased pricing though, and we’re hoping to learn more in the coming months.
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