Announced more than two years ago, Spotify HiFi is still waiting. This new formula offering lossless music has not been forgotten by the streaming service, but it is still unknown when it will be available and at what price.
It was in February 2021 that Spotify announced a new HiFi formula which, as its name suggests, was to offer subscribers lossless music, without compression. For the occasion, the platform even called on Billie Eilish for the announcement with great fanfare. But since then, almost no news. What happened ?
Lossless music from the competition, but not from Spotify
Gustav Söderström, the co-president of Spotify, explained in an interview for the site The Verge that ” the industry had changed for a whole host of reasons “. It is that in the meantime, the competition has launched in turn in the music sector without losses, at Apple Music and Amazon Music Unlimited in particular, and without price increases. Spotify originally intended to sell a more expensive Premium subscription to access the lossless catalog.
” We are going to do it “, assured the leader. ” But we will do it in a way that makes sense to us and our users. The industry has changed and we must adapt “. No doubt the number 1 in streaming would have preferred rival services to be less generous with their subscribers! But while waiting to find a solution, Spotify is stuck and can hardly ask for an extension on the price while access to lossless music is “offered” to others.
Gustav Söderström unfortunately gives few details about Spotify HiFi which is rumored to have been ready for a year. The technical work would in any case have been almost completed and the entire Spotify catalog would be available in lossless. Platform employees would even have access to it.
” We want to do it in a way that works for us from a cost perspective as well “, he adds, “II’m not allowed to comment on our agreements with record labels, or what other industry players are doing. “. Margins are low for music streamers, and Spotify isn’t backed by a smartphone manufacturer or retailer.
Spotify seems to be waiting to have something to offer in addition to the catalog without losses, in order to be able to sell a more expensive subscription. This could be support for spatial audio (but again, the competition offers this at no extra cost) and benefits related to audiobooks and podcasts. To continue to stand out from the competition, Spotify has launched a new interface for its mobile application, a mix between TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. But many subscribers expect the service on the issue of audio quality.
