Back in February 2021, Spotify produced a daring promise to roll out lossless music streaming right before the yr was out. Speedy forward much more than a year later on, and there’s nonetheless no indicator of Spotify HiFi.
So, what is the offer? Spotify has been frustratingly restricted-lipped about the fate of Spotify HiFi, but the business has let slip a couple of details about the missing assistance. Meanwhile, current rumors implies that Spotify HiFi may well even now see the light of working day, and possibly quickly.
Here’s what we know–and really do not know–about when Spotify HiFi may finally arrive.
What is Spotify HiFi?
To start with introduced back again in February 2021, Spotify HiFi was described as a way for Spotify Premium consumers to “upgrade their seem quality” to a “CD-excellent, lossless audio format.”
Ordinarily, “CD-quality” means streaming audio encoded with 16-little bit depth and a 44.1kHz sampling level.
But the important time period listed here is “lossless,” which indicates that the audio stream includes precisely the exact sonic element as its source.
The major providing issue in this article is that you’d be listening to the tunes in the precise way the artist intended–and certainly, Spotify posted a movie in which Billie Eilish and Finneas extolled the virtues of lossless audio streaming.
As it stands, Spotify streams audio at 320Kbps in the “lossy” Ogg Vorbis format, which usually means the audio stream has been compressed and is dropping a truthful sum of detail in the interest of conserving bandwidth.
When will Spotify HiFi come out?
The shorter answer is that we do not know when Spotify HiFi will get there. Nonetheless, some new chatter implies it may possibly land soon.
In accordance to a publish on Reddit, a longtime Spotify user who experienced not long ago switched to Apple Music claimed they got a study comprehensive a new plan–“Spotify Platinum”–that offers HiFi, as well as other features these kinds of as “Studio Audio,” a “Headphone Tuner,” “Audio Insights,” “Library Pro,” “Playlist Professional,” and “limited-ad” podcasts, all for an extra cost (far more on that in a instant).
The Redditor explained the study questioned if they would swap again to Spotify “in the nest 30 days” for “one of [those] attributes.”
Fascinating stuff–if it is real.
There have been other, former hints that Spotify HiFi is continue to percolating, which includes a “HiFi” icon noticed in the Spotify app back in May 2021 and a leaked “Hi, HiFi” video clip that designed the rounds a number of months later.
Adhering to months of silence about the situation, Spotify at last did talk up about Spotify HiFi at the commencing of 2022, but the vaguely worded statement provided scant particulars:
We know that HiFi quality audio is significant to you. We experience the very same, and we’re psyched to provide a Spotify HiFi practical experience to High quality buyers in the future. But we really do not have timing particulars to share yet. We will of program update you right here when we can.
We arrived at out to Spotify shortly just after that announcement, but a rep would only say that the corporation did “not have just about anything even further to share on HiFi further than the exhilaration for the long run launch.”
Additional not long ago, Spotify HiFi went unmentioned in the course of the streamer’s 2nd-quarter earnings phone in late July.
We’ve considering that despatched comply with-up inquiries, and we’ll update this tale when and if we hear back again.
We’ll also maintain our ears peeled in the course of Spotify’s following quarterly earnings simply call, slated for October 25.
How a great deal will Spotify HiFi expense?
Once more, we do not know for absolutely sure, but in accordance to the “Spotify Platinum” rumor in-depth earlier mentioned, the purported study pegged the price tag at $19.99 a month, or double the $9.99/month Spotify Personal strategy. Ouch.
Whilst Spotify has hardly ever appear out and reported that HiFi would charge additional, the wording of its preliminary announcement–“Premium subscribers in pick marketplaces will be equipped to upgrade their seem excellent to Spotify HiFi”–suggests that HiFi is both an insert-on or included in a new plan, these types of as the probable Spotify Platinum tier.
It is also really worth noting that Spotify examined CD-high quality audio streams as early as 2017, and at that time, it billed an added $7.50 a month for the privilege.
When was Spotify HiFi supposed to come out?
Spotify hardly ever gave a exact release date for Spotify HiFi, but through its 2021 announcement, it stated the aspect would arrive “later this year” in “select” markets.
Of course, it is reasonable to say that Spotify HiFi missed its launch window by a pretty substantial margin.
Why has not Spotify HiFi come out however?
Great query. Back again in February, Spotify CEO Daniel Ed blamed “licensing” challenges when requested about the destiny of Spotify HiFi through a organization earnings get in touch with. Here’s the specific quotation, as described by TechCrunch:
“Many of the characteristics that we speak about and especially that’s associated to new music ends up into licensing,” Ek advised traders. “So I can not seriously announce any details on this other than to say that we’re in regular dialogue with our partners to provide this to market.”
There is a further cause that Spotify may have delayed Spotify HiFi: because it acquired caught flat-footed by Apple and Amazon.
Just three months following the Spotify HiFi announcement, Amazon and Apple equally announced (separately, but on the identical day) that they would start off presenting lossless, superior-resolution, and spatial audio music tracks, all for no further demand. (Apple was completely new to lossless and spatial audio streaming, though Amazon experienced beforehand been charging additional for lossless and spatial tracks.)
Following the Amazon and Apple announcements, the prospect of spending extra (most possible) for only CD-high quality songs and (likely) no spatial audio began to lose its luster, so possibly Spotify chose to retreat and regroup.
Will Spotify HiFi supply significant-resolution music streaming?
Plenty of Spotify’s streaming new music rivals, such as Amazon Tunes Unlimited, Apple Music, Qobuz, and Tidal, present “high-resolution” new music streaming–that is, audio that’s encoded at a bigger resolution and sampling fee than CD-good quality 16-bit/44.1kHz audio tracks.
Most sector varieties concur that 24-little bit/48kHz is the threshold for significant-resolution audio, and those people streamers that aid it produce large-res streams all the way up to 24-bit/192kHz.
But Spotify by no means stated nearly anything about substantial-resolution audio in its initial Spotify HiFi announcement all it promised was “CD-quality” audio, which qualifies as “hi-fi” but not “hi-res.”
As for the “Spotify Platinum” rumors, the purported survey tends to make mention of a “Studio Sound” function in addition to HiFi. Could “Studio Sound” mean hi-res tunes? Hmmm.
In any occasion, it’s a make any difference of heated debate whether or not the human ear can basically tell the big difference amongst CD-top quality and substantial-resolution audio–or for that subject, no matter if most folks can discern the big difference amongst lossy and lossless. We won’t dive into lossy-vs.-lossless rabbit gap here.
Will Spotify HiFi provide spatial audio?
As with substantial-resolution audio, Spotify never explained everything about spatial audio–that is, music tracks that have been blended with 3D encompass effects–in its Spotify HiFi announcement.
In the meantime, Spotify opponents Amazon New music, Apple Music, and Tidal do provide spatial audio tracks in such formats as Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Truth Audio.
Again, Spotify could really have spatial audio plans in the works–and perhaps that is what the “Studio Sound” and/or “Headphone Tuner” attributes from the Spotify Platinum rumors are all about.
Will Spotify HiFi get cancelled?
Nicely, anything’s doable, and Spotify has been known to nix significant-profile options that in no way rather took off.
For instance, Spotify just lately pulled the plug on Automobile Issue, a little touchscreen exhibit that you could set up on a car dashboard for on-the-highway Spotify streaming.
For its portion, Spotify explained that while Vehicle Thing “worked as supposed,” it selected to halt production of the $80 gadget because of to “product demand from customers and source chain challenges,” among other elements.
Spotify also has a historical past of testing, teasing, and rolling out new capabilities that afterwards disappear–or even reappear–without clarification.
But while Spotify appears ready to terminate functions that aren’t working, it also likes to experiment, and Spotify HiFi could be a challenge that Spotify is material to tinker with indefinitely.
For what it is worth, the official Spotify HiFi announcement is even now live on Spotify’s website.
Up-to-date on Oct 14, 2022 to incorporate new developments and evaluation.
