In February 2021, Spotify made an announcement about introducing a lossless tier called “Spotify HiFi” to its streaming service. However, the actual launch of this new tier was evidently delayed.
Meanwhile, competitors like Apple Music have already introduced their own lossless catalogs, which reportedly led Spotify to postpone the release of HiFi (internally referred to as “Supremium”).
According to Bloomberg, HiFi might finally be ready to launch, but there is a warning that the subscription price will be higher. The exact amount of the increase remains unclear. A few months ago, a survey hinted at a price tag of $20, which is double the current cost of the $10 Premium plan.
However, these price details are specific to the United States. Spotify might choose to trial the HiFi tier in other markets before introducing it in the US, similar to how Netflix tested its password-sharing ban in select regions to gauge customer response.
In recent years, Spotify has made notable strides in the podcast industry and also offers audiobooks for sale.
Presently, audiobooks are sold individually, differing from the comprehensive “all-inclusive” approach of music streaming. This dynamic might change soon as the Premium tier could potentially grant access to audiobooks.
Surprisingly, it is not the new Supremium plan that would include this feature, which could have been a justification for the proposed price increase.
