Main points
- Spotify’s HiFi is still uncertain a few years after its launch, while other platforms already offer lossless audio for music lovers.
- CD-quality music on Spotify HiFi may come with a higher price tag compared to other streaming services that offer similar quality.
- If you can’t wait for Spotify HiFi, consider using Apple Music, Tidal, Amazon Music, Qobuz, or Deezer for lossless audio instead.
Apple Music has it, Tidal has it, Amazon Music has it, so where is Spotify’s lossless audio option?
In February 2021, Spotify announced plans to launch a HiFi subscription package, which will allow users to enjoy CD-quality lossless audio. It was originally slated to launch later in 2021, so it could be more timely to compete with other streaming platforms that already offer lossless audio options.
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But now, three years later, there’s a lot of uncertainty about when Spotify HiFi will launch, if at all. So if you’re wondering what exactly Spotify HiFi is, when you can get it, and what you can do instead of waiting for it, here’s everything you need to know.
The current state of lossless audio on Spotify
The whole ethos of Spotify HiFi is to provide Spotify users with lossless audio options. This will allow users to pay more to choose when to listen to lossless tracks, as it’s planned as a Spotify subscription at a different level than a regular Premium subscription. Since it will cost more, it may include more than just CD-quality audio to make it a better value than other streaming platforms, but more on that later.
CD quality or lossless audio here refers to music files with a bit rate of 1411kbps (16bit/44.1kHz), which is the quality of music you get on a physical CD. Currently, Spotify streams music at a maximum quality/bitrate of 320kbps, which is equivalent to high-quality MP3 files (although Spotify uses the Ogg Vorbis codec instead of MP3).
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When (if ever) will Spotify HiFi be launched?
Ever since Spotify announced that Spotify HiFi will launch in 2021, all we can really do is speculate on when it will actually launch. It was originally supposed to arrive “later” that year, but then never showed up. Next, a Spotify moderator published a forum post in January 2022 stating that the feature would be rolled out “in the future.” Later in 2022, TechCrunch reported that Spotify’s CEO said licensing issues were delaying HiFi’s release.
Then, in March 2023, Spotify’s co-president told The Verge that HiFi would still appear in the future, but did not disclose a specific time. The Verge said in the same article that they understand HiFi is almost complete, but Spotify is facing pricing issues.
It’s worth noting that Spotify took a long time to launch this product. Amazon Music has been offering CD-quality music since September 2019, Apple Music added ALAC as an option in June 2021, and Tidal launched FLAC support in July 2023. As with other streaming platforms offering large catalogs and lossless audio as options, one would expect Spotify to rush to fix this issue so they don’t lose subscribers, but that remains to be seen.
Spotify HiFi may cost more than other streaming platforms
There has been speculation for some time that Spotify HiFi will be priced at $19.99. A survey of some premium subscribers revealed the possibility of a $19.99 plan, which seems to support this rumor.
In September 2023, The Verge reported that a Reddit user looked at Spotify’s code and discovered that the “Supremium” tier was priced at $19.99 and included features such as advanced sorting options and mixing tools, as well as 30 hours of audio per month. Reading listening.
The price is quite high compared to other streaming platforms. Apple Music offers lossless audio as part of its regular subscription for $10.99, and Amazon Music also costs $9.99. So if Spotify was asking users to pay more for lossless functionality, it would make sense if it included the other features mentioned above, as well as other features like Spatial Audio or Dolby Atmos support.
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Spotify HiFi Alternatives
If you don’t want to wait for Spotify to drop HiFi levels, you have plenty of other lossless audio options, whether you want to stream or buy them.
Other popular streaming platforms like Apple Music, Tidal, and Amazon Music already offer lossless audio in their catalogs, so you can start listening to high-quality music right away if you so desire. Other streaming options include Qobuz and Deezer, both of which allow you to stream music in FLAC format. If you’d rather buy music instead of stream it, you can also buy music directly from artists on Qobuz and Bandcamp. You can also go the classic route and buy physical CDs of your favorite artists.
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At the moment, Spotify HiFi appears to be delayed indefinitely, but hopefully at some point it will be an option that Spotify users can take advantage of. It may seem like an elusive promise at the moment, and it may seem like an interminable wait, but that’s how it is sometimes in the tech world.