All articles tagged with #hifi
Spotify has finally launched lossless audio for its Premium subscribers after over four years of anticipation, offering an improved listening experience without additional cost, initially rolling out to select countries and planning a global expansion.
Spotify CEO Daniel Ek hinted at the long-awaited launch of a 'super premium' tier during the company's Q3 earnings call, which will offer better sound quality and additional features aimed at superfans. Despite previous delays due to licensing issues, the new tier is expected to cost around $17-$18 per month. Spotify is also expanding its video offerings and leveraging AI to enhance user engagement. The company's shares rose over 10% after reporting higher-than-expected subscriber growth and positive financial forecasts for Q4.
Three years after its announcement, Spotify's HiFi lossless streaming feature is still missing, leading to frustration among users. The company is rumored to be working on a more expensive "Supremium" tier that will likely include high-resolution and lossless streaming, but the delay has caused some subscribers to switch to rival services like Apple Music. Despite Spotify's strong music recommendation algorithms, the absence of HiFi streaming has left some users feeling that they are paying for an inferior listening experience.
A Reddit user has discovered details of Spotify's upcoming 'Supremium' HiFi plan in the app code, which is expected to include 24-bit lossless audio, AI-enabled playlist creation, 30 hours of audiobooks per month, and DJ-like features such as BPM matching and transitioning between tracks. The plan is listed with a price of $19.99 per month and is likely a response to competitors like Apple Music and Amazon Music offering lossless audio in their existing plans.
Tidal is raising the price of its HiFi subscription plan to $11 per month for individuals and $17 per month for families, starting on August 1st. This follows similar price increases by competitors such as Apple Music, Deezer, and Amazon Music. Tidal's higher-tier HiFi Plus plan, which includes additional features, will remain unaffected. Spotify is also expected to raise its prices soon and may introduce a high-fidelity plan with audiobooks later this year.
Tidal is raising the price of its HiFi tier by one dollar to $10.99 per month starting August 1st, following similar price increases by other music streaming services like Apple Music and Amazon Music. Reports suggest that international subscribers will also experience price hikes. Tidal is also increasing the cost of its family plan by two dollars. It remains unclear if the premium HiFi Plus tier will see a price increase. Spotify has hinted at potential price increases as well.
Spotify is set to launch a HiFi music streaming tier, but most people won't hear any difference between regular and lossless music. The average music fan, especially on a streaming service, enjoys their music on the go, listening to it on relatively cheap earbuds and headphones. Lossless is little more than a marketing gimmick, and the trick is to find the music-streaming service you like the sound of because the differences in how they master and stream their songs will be a lot bigger than the difference between lossy and lossless streaming.
Spotify may finally launch a premium HiFi audio tier, dubbed "Supremium" internally, to drive more revenue and address investor demands. The company may also enhance its regular Premium offering with expanded audiobook access. It is unclear whether the audio would be lossless at up to 24-bit and 192kHz, and pricing has not been revealed yet. Spotify had delayed rolling out the plan in 2021 as its rivals, Apple Music and Amazon Music, started including the feature for no charge in their standard plans.
Spotify is reportedly launching a HiFi tier with lossless music streaming through a "Supremium" plan later this year, which might cost more than the current premium plan of $9.99 per month. The plan will also include access to audiobooks and will first launch in non-U.S. markets. The company first announced the HiFi tier back in 2021, but the launch has been delayed. The costlier plan might not necessarily push the subscriber number by a lot, but it should increase the average revenue per user and add value to people who want to access lossless music from Spotify.
Spotify has surpassed 500 million monthly active users, with paid subscribers reaching 210 million, a 15% YoY increase. The company posted a net loss of €225m ($248m) in Q1 2023, compared to a net income of €131m ($145m) in the same period last year. Spotify's HiFi tier, which was announced over two years ago, is still not available, and the company's co-president says it is "coming at some point." Spotify's user growth exceeded its guidance by 15 million, with CEO Daniel Ek commenting that the results represented the service's second-largest quarter of user growth in its history.
Two years after announcing its HiFi lossless audio plans, Spotify is still not sharing concrete details about the feature. In a recent interview, a Spotify executive stated that the company is planning to release HiFi audio on the platform but did not provide a timeline. The delay may be due to the industry changing and Spotify wanting to do something unique. Meanwhile, Apple Music has already released its own version of lossless streaming with Dolby Atmos, and Tidal has introduced HiFi audio for paid subscribers at the same price as Spotify Premium.
Spotify's co-president Gustav Söderström has confirmed that the company's HiFi tier is still in the works and will be launched in a way that makes sense for the company and its listeners. Söderström blamed "other players in the industry" for the delay but did not provide any specifics. The Verge reports that Spotify HiFi has been ready for more than a year, but the launch was spoiled by Apple bundling lossless into Apple Music for free.
Spotify still plans to launch its lossless music experience, HiFi, but the timing and form of the launch are still undecided. Originally intended to cost more than the standard plan, Spotify's lossless is now expected to appear as part of a more extensive plan that includes access to spatial audio tracks and other perks. Apple Music and Amazon's inclusion of lossless listening options as part of their standard subscription price has made it less reasonable for Spotify to charge more for a like-for-like service.
Spotify co-president Gustav Söderström confirmed that the streaming service is still working on its high-res audio tier, HiFi, but did not provide any launch date or support for spatial audio. Söderström hinted that the cost of HiFi and deals with music labels are major factors to the delay and that Spotify wants to do something "unique" with HiFi. The delay is also attributed to the company's need to adapt to a changing industry.