For years, I was one of the Spotify faithful, waiting as patiently as I could muster for the HiFi update so that I could enjoy my music in the best quality possible. I’d already switched over to Apple Music, TiDAL, and Qobuz by the time Spotify started adding features I wasn’t interested in like audiobooks, merch stores, and other things unrelated to music streaming — but is this latest announcement too little too late for someone like me?
Coming later this year, Spotify will apparently add a new pricing tier that will provide hi-res streaming, and… not much else. The news comes from an inside source via Bloomberg.
- iPhone deals: Verizon | AT&T | Mint Mobile
Finally! But is it enough?
This new streaming tier is likely going to cost “40% more” than what users are paying right now, putting the increase to about $5. After the streaming service’s most recent price rise to $11.99, that would make this new “Supremium” tier cost $16.99 — one of the most expensive music streaming subscriptions that you can buy.
Will you get your money's worth? Unless Spotify can justify the price with more than just hi-res streaming, probably not. In the time that it has taken the green circle to get hi-res streaming onto its app and into its library, TiDAL has dropped its subscription fee to $9.99 per month, Apple Music added hi-res streaming to its standard subscription fee of $11 per month, and only Qobuz (the one for nerds, like me) is more expensive with its top-level hi-res ‘Sublime’ tier costing $17.99 per month. The latter comes with a 60% discount to the Qobuz download store, where you'll find an enormous library of tracks that you can buy and own digitally. If you just want streaming, then there's the Studio subscription — which costs $14.99, less than Spotify's potential new tier.
Let’s ask again then — is this new tier too little too late? Yes, most likely. It’s certainly not enough to pull me back to the streaming service, and given how much cheaper it would be now to move to a different service that offers hi-res streaming, it’s not likely that users will want to move over. Unless, of course, Spotify can justify the extra cost in another way. It’s a weird, difficult-to-parse decision from Spotify, particularly after all the price rises over the last few months, and one that doesn’t really make sense.
Whatever happens, it looks like we’re finally getting Spotify Hi-Fi — whether people will subscribe, however, is another question entirely.
More from iMore
