For followers of high-fidelity audio, Spotify HiFi may very well be the Holy Grail. After unveiling its plans for lossless, CD-quality audio in 2021, audiophiles world wide have been patiently ready for Spotify to bridge that hole to competitor companies like Tidal and Apple Music. Although we nonetheless regard it as top-of-the-line music streaming companies, Spotify has but to ship its extremely anticipated HiFi tier – and it has been virtually 5 years.
In the case of the hi-res audio recreation, Apple and Amazon are leaps and bounds forward of Spotify. Since 2021 subscribers of each companies have been capable of reap the advantages of lossless audio high quality at no further price, so what’s gone mistaken with Spotify? It is a query we’re nonetheless asking ourselves to this present day, although the extra Spotify unveils about its new plans for brand spanking new tiered subscriptions, the nearer we get to having our palms on its lossless audio.
Sadly, even when Spotify HiFi does drop, we have cause to consider that it’s going to solely be out there in “choose markets” to begin. And whereas Spotify hasn’t mentioned precisely how a lot the service will price simply but, we’re assured that the Spotify HiFi tier will price greater than the present normal premium subscription which sits at $11.99/ £11.99/ AU$13.99 – and there’s no assure that each music in your complete Spotify catalog could have a HiFi model out there.
Regardless of this very clear draw back, we have good cause to consider that Spotify HiFi songs might be out there to avoid wasting and obtain to your units for offline listening, which implies it’s best to be capable to take your new lossless music library with you anyplace.
Able to make the leap to lossless? This is everything we know about Spotify HiFi.
Spotify HiFi release date rumors
To chop a protracted story brief, we haven’t got a selected date we can level to. It has been 5 years since Spotify unveiled its plans to introduce lossless audio to boost music listening for its subscribers, which was anticipated to reach in 2021. One of many first leaks we got here throughout was again in 2021, when a person on Reddit shared a video with the caption ‘This is a sneak peek on the upcoming HiFi onboarding course of from modifying the app’, and seems to offer potential HiFi customers a backstage tour of the service:
This is a sneak peek on the upcoming HiFi onboarding course of from modifying the app from r/truespotify
Regardless of sharing this in its 5 Issues to Know About Spotify HiFi weblog put up, and confirming that it will be out there as an improve to Premium, there’s nonetheless been no addition of HiFi audio.
In 2021 Spotify said the next; “Starting later this 12 months, Premium subscribers in choose markets will be capable to improve their sound high quality to Spotify HiFi and take heed to their favourite songs the way in which artists meant,”. Nevertheless we’ve been ready fairly some time for an additional official replace, and now that we’ve reached 2025, we actually do not know when Spotify HiFi will lastly release. Even Spotify CEO Daniel Ek is not sure, claiming that the delay in including Spotify HiFi largely comes right down to licensing points.
Apart from licensing rights, the Spotify HiFi delay might be attributed to its undivided consideration to its social options akin to Spotify Wrapped, and its mission to convey extra AI integrations to its person expertise; its jarring AI DJ characteristic and generative Daylist characteristic (one which I frequent commonly) are two of its hottest AI instruments. Lately, we reported on Spotify’s plans to ‘double down’ on music in 2025 which we consider might go down one among two paths; both the long-awaited HiFi tier or extra AI developments.
It is also value specializing in that choose markets bit because it means we received’t see Spotify HiFi going reside in each territory on the identical time. Beforehand, when Spotify has rolled out new options it normally begins with the US and Europe, however now that the service is out there in additional than 180 markets, it’s exhausting to say which might be among the many first to get the brand new service.
The opposite situation you’ll run into concerning Spotify HiFi’s release date – every time it’s finally introduced – is that it’s unlikely that each Spotify Join gadget will get the improve on the identical time – which implies some audio system like, say, the Sonos One and PS5 may get it lengthy earlier than your barely older AV receiver.
Spotify HiFi price predictions
As of proper now, there’s no set price for Spotify HiFi so, for now, all we can do is speculate. We had cause to consider that Spotify HiFi can be launched as a model new subscription tier, however we’ve since discovered that it might now not be a standalone tier, nor a brand new Music Professional characteristic, but it surely may very well be a $5 add-on for the Premium Plan. Spotify Premium at the moment stands at a month-to-month price of $11.99/ £11.99/ AU$13.99 subsequently if the $5 add-on rumors are true, we’d enterprise a guess that Spotify HiFi might price between $14.99 and $19.99 which appears like a protected guess.
What’s additionally influencing that guess is the competitors: a Tidal subscription will run you $19.99 monthly, whereas Hello-Res Audio streaming companies like Qobuz and Deezer price $14.99 and $11.99 monthly. Amazon Music Limitless and Apple Music are a bit cheaper and now embody lossless streaming choices, and it is doable Spotify HiFi might be across the identical price if it ever launches.
Spotify HiFi audio high quality
So, simply how good will Spotify HiFi’s lossless audio be? It’s going to supposedly sound, on the very least, nearly as good as a CD does – and perhaps a bit higher.
In accordance with Spotify, Spotify HiFi will stream CD-quality lossless audio to your units. Ideally, these units might be linked to a community and able to utilizing Spotify Join, in any other case, you’ll need to pipe it over Bluetooth which can possible diminish the standard.
Within the absence of Spotify HiFi, you may amend your audio streaming high quality in your account settings so as to add considerably of an enchancment to your listening expertise. Simply go to your Spotify settings, and faucet ‘Audio High quality’.
That’s a heck of so much higher than Spotify’s present providing of 320kbps, and will possible convey the service’s potential audio high quality as much as par with Tidal, Deezer, and perhaps even Apple’s Digital Masters. Talking of Apple Digital Masters, there’s at all times an opportunity that Spotify may additionally go above and past hi-fi with 96kHz / 24-bit audio, however we’re not holding our breath.
So what does that every one imply? In a really sensible sense, lossless audio codecs have extra particulars and information than their lossy counterparts. Which means listening to new particulars in songs you’ve by no means heard earlier than that in any other case may’ve been reduce out when the information was compressed. It also needs to sound a bit wider and extra immersive, although, quite a lot of it can rely upon which headphones or audio system you utilize, too.
Spotify HiFi music catalog
The murkiest element of all for Spotify HiFi is what number of – and which – songs from Spotify’s greater than 100 million-song catalog might be included. The most secure assumption we could make is that it will not help each music in Spotify’s huge catalog, however tens of millions of them needs to be.
Amongst these will possible be prime hits from main file labels which already distribute the information to different companies, whereas some music from smaller labels and older legacy titles possible received’t make the reduce. We’ll preserve our ears to the bottom for extra particulars on which songs will make the reduce, however for now, it’s in all probability greatest to maintain your CD assortment proper the place it’s till new particulars emerge.
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