Spotify is becoming hi-fi. Well, “HiFi”. It took longer than competitors like Tidal and Amazon Music, but today, the leading subscription music service has announced a new level of lossless streaming that will allow listeners to get the most out of their digital music library. The news came at the company’s Spotify virtual event “Stream On”.
Spotify HiFi will be available later this year and “will deliver CD-quality music, lossless audio format to your device and Spotify Connect-enabled speakers, meaning fans will be able to experience more depth and clarity while enjoying your favorite tracks ”.
Spotify has done small tests of high quality streaming in the past, but now it will launch the feature more widely – with the proviso that it will be available only “in selected markets”. The price has not yet been announced. High-quality streaming is apparently among the top requests from its customers; as it stands today, Spotify reaches a maximum of 320 kbps of audio.
Amazon launched Amazon Music HD in 2019. The lossless plan costs $ 14.99 a month (or $ 12.99 for Prime customers), an award over the standard Amazon Music Unlimited service. Tidal, which supports high-resolution audio from the start, is slightly more expensive, $ 19.99 a month for the “Hi-Fi” plan. Tidal offers what it calls “Tidal Masters” that go up to 96 kHz / 24 bit high resolution audio. Smaller services like Qobuz have also sought to attract audiophiles with lossless streaming.
Apple Music, on the other hand, still lacks any kind of lossless streaming layer, despite Apple selling the latest generation AirPods Max headphones.
Under development…