Spotify will launch a Deluxe high-fidelity streaming tier...at some point. It's been nearly three years since Spotify announced that lossless high-fidelity audio would be coming to the music streaming service.
It was anticipated that hi-fi Spotify would arrive in early 2022, but the feature was delayed indefinitely in July 2022. Co-president Gustav Söderström told The Verge, "We are going to do it, but we’re going to do it in a way where it makes sense for us and for our listeners. The industry changed and we had to adapt."
Only recently has Spotify even confirmed that a Deluxe tier would be coming when CEO Daniel Ek confirmed that the plan was in the works during a July 2024 earnings call.
Here's everything we know about the Deluxe plan that Spotify will someday offer.
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Spotify Deluxe release date
Every year since Spotify announced that lossless high-fidelity audio was coming, it has been rumored that a plan is coming soon.
In June 2023, it was rumored that Spotify had a new "Supremium" tier in the works that was expected to launch later that year. A Bloomberg report claimed that the HiFi lossless audio would be bundled into the overall feature set.
Spotify demurred when asked about "Supremium," telling Bloomberg, “At Spotify, we are constantly iterating and ideating to improve our product offering and offer value to users. But we don’t comment on speculation around possible new features and do not have anything new to share at this time.”
A late report in October suggested that we would see Supremium before the year was out. This did not come to pass.
Earlier in 2024, something called Music Pro was seen in Spotify code, suggesting that Supremium was out and that a potential HiFi add-on was the new direction.
The most recent news came straight from the horse's mouth as Spotify CEO Daniel Ek announced that a Deluxe tier would be coming during a July 2024 earnings call. Supposedly it will arrive later this year, though Ek declined to provide a more specific timeline.
Spotify Deluxe Price
In this regard, the rumors have been fairly consistent. The new tier from Spotify is expected to cost around $20 a month. What is on offer for that cost is still up for debate.
During the earnings call mentioned above, CEO Daniel Ek suggested the plan would be about $5 more than the current Premium tier.
“It’s probably around a $17 or $18 price point, but sort of a deluxe version of Spotify that has all of the benefits that this normal Spotify version has, but a lot more control, a lot higher quality across the board,” Ek said.
If the Deluxe tier arrives with HiFi audio at either the $17, $18 or $20 price, it will be the most expensive streaming plan to feature lossless audio. Competitors like Amazon and Apple Music offer lossless audio for the same price (or cheaper) as Spotify's current Premium plan. Tidal provides hi-res audio at the same $10.99 price as Apple Music.
Spotify Deluxe Features
Beyond lossless audio, what other features is Spotify considering adding to a potential Deluxe tier?
One report suggested that lossless audio was the only feature that would come with the higher tier.
However, the same rumors that saw the Supremium tier launching in late 2023 had more offerings on the table.
These included advanced playlist-mixing tools like BPM, vibe, activity and genre. AI playlist generation tools were also suggested, though Spotify launched that for Premium users in April that utilizes the Spotify DJ feature to create radio stations for users based on text prompts.
Other features included 20 - 30 hours of audiobook listening, another feature that Spotify took away from basic users and paywalled in Premium this year. That said, the premium tier only comes with 15 hours of listening time.
A Last.FM-style listening stats tool was also suggested, making your music stats available year-round instead of just at the yearend wrap-ups.
That rumor also listed something called "Your Sound Capsule," which appears to be a tool that a code-diving Redditor described as something that "tells you about your listening habits and discover [sic.] what mix of sounds is ‘uniquely you.’"
Those are the only potential features we've come across and it's unclear if Spotify would take or reduce features in Premium to make Deluxe seem more enticing like they've done recently between Basic and Premium.
Spotify Deluxe: Why is Lossless Audio important?
But why all the fuss about lossless audio, sometimes called high-res audio?
Hi-res audio is any audio file that sounds better than you would get on a CD. CD quality is specified at 16-bit/44.1 kHz, while a high-res file has a greater bit depth (generally up to 24-bit) and a higher sampling frequency (up to 96kHz or 192kHz).
Typically, audio files are compressed to save space, which diminishes the sound quality. This compression can reduce the immersion of songs.
Spotify launched with data streams that only hit 320kbps. In comparison, a CD is specified at 1,411 kbps. The smaller files probably helped Spotify get off the ground with lower bandwidth costs, but they compromised the music.
A typical lossless file has a rate of 9,216kpbs, about six times greater than a CD. This means that more audio information is coming through, which can give listeners a greater depth of sound.
To be fair to Spotify, to get the most out of lossless audio, you should listen on some of the best headphones, best Bluetooth speakers or best earbuds that can take advantage of the full range of frequencies and natural sound that your iPhone speakers or a cheap set of headphones can't.
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