Spotify may finally be introducing HiFi audio, but are you willing to pay the price?

You’ve probably heard of this huge music streaming service called Spotify. It is an app that’s likely to be found on some of the best phones on the market and for good reason: it works.

In recent times, Spotify devs seem to be busy with adding extra features to their service, which the core audience of music and/or podcast lovers don’t really care for. But still though, with the company’s recent financial troubles — including owing millions to the EU — we can’t really blame them for trying out ways to come out on top.

But all of this talk about core-audience, music and extra features brings back to memory a feature, which has been sorely lacking on the service, namely: lossless audio. Audiophiles have already been tempted to join Apple Music precisely because of this option, which grants users higher quality music with a more vibrant soundscape.

So, did you notice how I said money? Well, that was because Bloomberg says that Spotify may be planning to charge for this.



So what, you say? Well, yes, but the elephant in the room is as follows: Apple Music is also offering lossless, but at no extra cost. So do you see how this may be a bit weird? After all, Apple’s streaming service isn’t even limited to iPhones and iPads.

And even if you dislike Apple that much, you can still go with Amazon’s service and enjoy the same benefit at no extra cost.

Backtracking even further, metroidvania style: Spotify promised HiFi audio options two years ago. There were rumors that it might end up costing more on top, but most subscribers hoped that those were just that: rumors.

The allegedly incoming tier and its kind of cringy name: “Supremium” will launch in non-US territories first, but will also make its way overseas by the end of 2023. So one obvious question remains: how much will the price bump cost?

Well, we don’t know. We also don’t know whether it’ll bring along with it new, bonus features for users, which may — possibly — make the jump worth it? But as a proud member of the “average lossless enjoyer community”, I can’t name such a theoretical feature off the top of my head.

So, we get it. Despite being the largest music-streaming platform in the world, Spotify is still operating at a loss. They also owe millions of dollars to huge institutions. But one must ask: is a slight price bump in exchange for a feature that already exists elsewhere for free the way out of this conundrum?