What you need to know
- In 2021, Spotify announced a new HiFi tier that will offer users lossless audio, but at a higher price.
- A year later, this feature has apparently been postponed “indefinitely”.
- Spotify’s co-president recently said the feature will continue to roll out, but declined to say when.
- Since then, other apps have offered lossless audio to users at no extra charge, which is clearly ruining Spotify’s plans.
We’ve been waiting a long time for Spotify HiFi, the upcoming lossless audio tier of the app. This promised to provide users with his CD-quality lossless audio on compatible headphones and speakers. However, it looks like Spotify will be waiting for a while as it doesn’t seem like they’ll find the best way to roll out this feature.
In an interview with The Verge, Spotify co-president Gustav Söderström said one of the reasons for the feature’s lengthy delay was that “the industry has changed for a number of reasons.”
Spotify originally announced plans for a new HiFi tier in early 2021 (it’s actually been that long), but the feature is set to launch as an add-on that will cost users extra. But the industry “changed” quickly, and Apple quickly launched Apple Music’s lossless audio at no extra cost to subscribers. Amazon quickly followed suit and no longer charges extra for HD streaming.
Needless to say, Spotify didn’t start the HiFi tier when it said it would. The following year, representatives said the feature had been postponed indefinitely. Based on Söderström, that still seems to be the case.
“We’re going to do it, but we’re going to do it in a way that makes sense for us and our listeners,” he told The Verge. I want to do it in.”
Spotify has since launched many new features and app changes over the years, including the latest home screen revamp and the new AI DJ.
For now, it looks like we’ll have to wait for HiFi audio on Spotify, which is disappointing considering it has the largest subscriber base of any music streaming service. According to The Verge, the feature has been in the works for over a year and Spotify employees are already using it.
Some experts agree that it’s hard to justify companies charging extra for lossless audio. Phillip Donaldson, an audio engineer for Canada’s largest television and sports networks, told Android Central last year that lossless audio is “a niche thing and most people wouldn’t even know the difference.” . The consensus among experts seemed to be that it was just a marketing term used to entice consumers. Spotify may “offer” it publicly, but this is not on Spotify.
Based on Söderström’s comments, it seems likely that users will be charged extra for this feature every time it appears. However, Spotify may then have to convince users that other services are worth offering for free.
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