Spotify has finally decided on a lossless version of HiFi

In February 2021, Spotify announced the future availability of a HiFi version for lossless music playback. The company notably confirmed that the feature would be available later that year under a new plan that, to this day, more than two years later, has yet to arrive. After the uncertainty of many users and after the price rumors and occasional brief statements by its CEO, Spotify has finally revealed why this plan hasn’t been implemented yet.

This was stated by co-chairman of Spotify Gustav Söderström. edge What HiFi platform plan continues, but have not been officially released yet due to changes in the industry. “We’re going to make it [lanzar Spotify HiFi], but we are going to do it in a way that is clear to us and our listeners. The industry has changed and we have had to adapt,” he told the aforementioned publication.

In terms of changes in the industry, Sederström seems to be referring to the ability to listen to music in Dolby Atmos without quality loss in Apple Music; a feature that the Cupertino-based company announced in June 2021 that is also available without the need to contract for an additional plan. Let’s remember that Spotify’s original plan was to announce the premium plan as more expensive than the individual subscription. with the ability to play lossless songs as an exclusive feature. Amazon has also followed in Apple’s footsteps and offers HiFi audio on Amazon Music at no additional cost.

Spotify is looking for a way to make the HiFi version profitable and compete with Apple Music at the same time.

The problem and the reason Spotify HiFi hasn’t launched yet is that the company seems obsessed with monetizing this feature and at the same time be able to compete with Apple Music. In fact, Sederström described in detail edge that they are looking for a way to launch this plan in a way that also works for them “in terms of cost”.

According to the leak, Spotify HiFi was supposed to be available on the Platinum plan, which was to be priced at $19.99 per month. That is twice the price of the premium plan. It is currently unknown if the ability to listen to lossless audio on an individual subscription will be available at no additional cost, or if users will have to pay to use this feature.