Spotify has been creating a lot of buzz recently with news that its audiophile-grade super premium HiFi plan could be finally nearing release after all these years. However, details still largely remain sparse, and so with this article, we’re looking to consolidate everything that we know about the service so far.
Joining the ranks of Tidal, Apple, and Lenbrook Media Group’s unnamed service which will be launching in partnership with HDTracks, Spotify’s forthcoming service aim’s to be the music streaming app’s most premium tier, hence why internally its been referred to as “Spotify Superpremium.”
Outside the company it often gets referred to as Spotify HiFi, and at one point it was called Spotify Platinum. Names aside, the point of the new subscription is to provide lossless audio to top paying subscribers.
According to Bloomberg, which spoke recently with an unnamed individual familiar with the plan, this plan will cost an extra $5 per month over the current premium subscription.
Currently, Spotify’s Premium subscription is planned to go up to $11.99 per month, which means Spotify HiFi will cost $16.99 per month given current metrics.
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In addition to lossless audio, this newer plan will also grant users access to new tools for creating playlists and managing song libraries, adding more options for curation and customization on top of the better-quality audio.
This added customization includes setting up specific playlists for activities, dates, and even times of the year, which could lead to some fun and interesting automations and schedules associated with music for integrators looking to play around with it.
The Verge has also reported that code found within the Spotify app suggests that users might even be able to use AI to create playlists. Bloomberg clarifies in its own article, saying this roughly translates to the app being able to add to and curate playlists over time without any prompting as the device learns more about user behavior and interests.
As stated in the Bloomberg article, which likely has the most accurate information considering it spoke directly with an insider, the audio is described as “CD-Quality.”
Looking over at an article written by 9to5Mac, this translates to audio in the range of AAC 1,411kbps, though that same report from the Verge states that quality will go as high as AAC 2,117kbps.
That same Verge article also stated that certain “limited songs” will be featured in the FLAC audio format, which is the only format listed that can be considered truly lossless.
This isn’t too big of a concern for the average consumer using lower-tier listening instruments, but for audiophiles listening to the service on high-end headphones or other streaming devices, it’s likely that these inconsistencies will be clear as day and may serve as a kick in the pants for someone paying premium prices for supposedly lossless audio.
There is also no word on the support of other times of audio being supported, such as spatial audio or Dolby Atmos Music, which, for contrast, is currently supported by Tidal, Amazon, and Apple.
These streams, however, will be compatible with Spotify Connect, in addition to Bluetooth, though the company does note that Bluetooth will only be able to stream in CD-quality if the source and receiver both support the same Bluetooth aptX codec.
No concrete information has been provided, however, regarding how big of a selection for CD-quality audio will be made available for the service.
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