13:28, 16 Mar 2023, author: Ermakova M.

Spotify talks about lossless version of HiFi

The company claims that the plan to launch Spotify HiFi is still on track, but there's a reason they haven't done it yet.

In February 2021, Spotify announced the future availability of a HiFi version for lossless music playback. In particular, the company confirmed that by the end of the same year, this feature will be available under a new plan, which to date, more than two years later, has not yet been implemented. After a lot of user uncertainty, pricing rumors, and some other brief statements from its CEO, Spotify has finally spoken out on why this plan hasn't come to fruition yet.

Gustav Sederström, who is the co-chairman of Spotify, told The Verge that the platform's hi-fi plan is still on track, but they haven't officially launched it yet due to changes in the industry.

“We're going to do it , but we're going to do it in a way that makes sense to us and our listeners. The industry has changed and we have had to adapt,” he explained to the cited publication.

As for the changes, Cederström seems to be referring to the ability to listen to music in Dolby Atmos and lossless in Apple Music; a feature that the Cupertino-based company announced in June 2021, and which is also available without the need to sign up for an additional data plan.

As a reminder, Spotify's original plan was to announce a premium plan, more expensive than an individual subscription, with the ability to play lossless songs as an exclusive feature. Amazon has also followed in the footsteps of Apple and offers Hi-Fi audio on Amazon Music at no additional cost.

Spotify is looking for a way to make the HiFi version profitable and at the same time compete with Apple Music

The problem, and the reason why Spotify HiFi hasn't launched yet, is that the company seems to be aiming to make the feature profitable and at the same time be able to compete with Apple Music. In fact, Cederström told The Verge at length that they are looking for a way to implement this plan in a way that works for them “in terms of cost.”

According to the leak, Spotify HiFi was to be available on a “Platinum” plan, which was to be priced at $19.99 per month, which is twice as expensive as the premium plan. It is currently unknown if lossless audio will be available on an individual subscription at no additional cost or if users will have to pay extra to be able to use this feature.