That Spotify has a high-resolution audio tier in the works is not a surprise. Quite the opposite in fact, because Spotify itself has been teasing Spotify HiFi since early 2021. And, yet, the world’s leading music streaming service still doesn’t have a feature enjoyed by the likes of Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Tidal.
But Spotify CEO Daniel Ek did address the audiophile elephant in the room during the company’s second-quarter 2024 earnings call on July 23, 2024.
“Part of why I believe the subscription business in the last year or two has been doing better is because we’ve moved from that one-size-fits-all [plan] to a much more tailored proposition where consumers now have everything from the basic tiers, to duo to, you know, family plans to student plans. There’s just many more options for you to subscribe to Spotify.”
Ek acknowledged that a good number of Spotify’s 246 million Premium subscribers want higher quality audio. He’s also previously said that lossless audio isn’t for everyone — and indeed, there’s a real chance you can’t tell the difference — which could explain why it’s been three years since the feature was announced, and still no results.
“The plan here is to offer a much better version of Spotify,” Ek said. “So think something that could be something like $5 above the current premium tier like you includes, it’s probably around the $17, or $18 price point. Sort of a deluxe version of Spotify that has all of the benefits that the normal Spotify version has, but a lot more control, a lot higher quality across the board.”
Ek declined to elaborate further, including when this higher tier of service might actually be available. Spotify HiFi previously was touted as “lossless CD-quality,” which would be a marked step up from its current lossy offering.
“It will be a net positive for the entirety of music industry,” Ek concluded, “and will further enhance the growth of the music industry seeing, so we’re quite excited about it. But it’s early days.”
