Seven years after the first rumors, Spotify is finalizing the launch of its Hi-Fi offering, which should offer lossless audio to its most demanding subscribers. Its bet would be to increase prices, with a more complete offering than its competitors.
In 2021, the lossless format had its moment of glory. Long exclusive to streaming services for audiophiles, such as Qobuz, lossless audio has suddenly become accessible to the general public thanks to Apple Music and Amazon Music, the first two to have added it for free to their services.
If the users of these platforms rather perceived the addition of lossless as good news, even if few of them use it (difficult to perceive a difference in Bluetooth, especially since each song is heavy), Spotify was the big loser in this story. Since 2017, the Swede has been developing a high-end version of his service, called Spotify Hi-Fi, the primary goal of which is to increase revenue. Apple and Amazon’s free strategy dashed his plans, as he was unable to launch the Spotify Hi-Fi he hoped to create.
On Reddit, screenshots of a future version of Spotify appeared on May 1, 2024. Three years after its competitors and seven years after having the idea of the Hi-Fi offer, Spotify is finally preparing to market its ultra-high-end offering, which should indeed be more expensive.
Spotify Supremium: what’s the difference with Spotify Premium?
Today, Spotify markets several offers:
| Offer | Monthly price | Features |
|---|---|---|
| Without subscription | Free | With advertisements, with restrictions and without exclusive functions |
| Premium Personal | €10.99 | The complete offer for one person |
| Premium Students | €5.99 | The personal offer at a reduced rate |
| Duo | €14.99 | 2 Spotify Premium accounts |
| Family | €17.99 | 6 Spotify Premium accounts and access to Spotify Kids |
Tomorrow, a new ultra-high-end formula, with several exclusive functions, should appear. Her name, Spotify Supreme (a sort of play on words between superiority and premium). It is easy to imagine that Spotify, almost all of whose revenue depends on subscriptions, is banking on this formula to begin a growth phase. Its rivals, like Apple, Google or Amazon, don’t need music to make a living. Spotify only lives off that.
To distinguish itself from other offers, Spotify Supremium should introduce lossless into the Swedish ecosystem. The bitrate of streaming songs would increase from a maximum of 320 kbps (which corresponds to an MP3) to 1,411 kbps. Other settings mention 24-bit / 44.1kHz FLAC, but only for a limited number of songs. It’s a little less than Apple Music, which technically goes up to 24 bits / 192 kHz, but it’s already a clear improvement compared to the current quality.
One of the cool features of Spotify Supremium would be a compatibility detector.
Where other services present lossless as an option to activate or deactivate, Spotify would detect the ideal configuration for its device and its headphones/Hi-Fi system. Spotify’s idea would be to make lossless simpler to understand, to don’t just copy others. The company would also speak “improved listening”instead of “Hi-Fi”. Words are important, Spotify doesn’t want a geek function.
With a supposed price of $19.99 per month (Spotify had tested this price in opinion surveys), the Supremium offer should, we hope, not be limited to HiFi.
Recently, Spotify tested several functions linked to artificial intelligence, such as a playlist generator with prompts or a personal radio, with a fake host. It would not be surprising to see him take this direction, so that no one can say that he charges for what others quickly integrate.
It remains to be seen when Spotify Supremium will be unveiled and if others, like Apple, will not integrate AI into their services for free to thwart the plans of the sworn enemy. Spotify knows very well that it is walking on a tightrope, with competitors less strong than it in music, but terribly more powerful from an economic point of view.
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