A major announcement that is sure to shift the tides of music streaming, Spotify is going hi-fi. Spotify has shown itself as a goliath of not only music streaming, and a leader in subscription services. Even though Spotify has always featured a higher bit rate than other competitors like Apple Music, Tidal, and Amazon Music HD has had them beat for a while.
Recently, Spotify held a virtual event called “Stream On” where they revealed a new hi-fi streaming tier that will give listeners access to lossless quality playback throughout their digital library. According to Spotify, the hi-fi tier will deliver CD-quality audio to your choice of speakers or headphones, adding depth and clarity to your favorite tracks.
There has been no announcement on pricing just yet, and as stated on the live event, this tier will only be initially available in select markets. Streaming competitors like Amazon Music, who unveiled their HD plan in 2019, have offered their lossless tier at a slightly increased price. Amazon Music HD is advertised at $14.99 a month, and $12 a month for Prime users, while Tidal is priced at $19.99. Tidal warrants their increased price point by offering a master quality resolution to a good number of albums in their library that extend past 16bit 44.1kHz Redbook CD to 24bit 98kHz.
Look for Spotify HiFi later on in 2021.
Discuss Spotify HiFi on our forum here.
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