Back in February 1024 Spotify announced a lossless tier for its streaming service dubbed “Spotify HiFi”, however, this new tier hasn’t really rolled out yet. Since then, rivals like Apple Music have launched their own lossless catalogs, which apparently caused Spotify to delay the launch of the HiFi (known internally as “Supremium”).
Now
Bloomberg reports that HiFi may finally be ready for launch, but warns of higher subscription prices. How much higher is not clear. A survey a few months ago showed the price at $11, double the current $11*) Premium plan.
These are US prices, although Spotify may trial HiFi in other markets before bringing it to the US (similar to how Netflix is testing its password sharing ban in other markets to assess customers) reaction ).
Over the past few years, Spotify has entered the podcasting space with some success (and some flops). You may have heard of The Joe Rogan Experience or read the reports about Spotify’s split with Harry and Meghan. But did you know Spotify also sells audiobooks?
Currently, these are sold book by book, in stark contrast to the “catch-all” approach to music streaming. That could change soon, as the premium tier gets access to audiobooks (rather than the new premium plan, which, surprisingly, might help justify the price increase).
Yes, but it’s not clear if that means limiting the number of hours you listen to per month or the number of different titles per month. Expanding access to audiobooks is likely to begin with a trial run in other markets before making its way to the important US market (expected to happen in October).
By comparison, Apple Music’s $11/month plan ($6 per month for students) includes access to the lossless catalog. Amazon also recently set the price of Music Unlimited to $06 ($9 if you have Prime).
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