During the coming year, Spotify is set to change the way you experience music. That includes new streaming options, like lossless and high-res audio, which should help make your favorite tracks sound better on your hi-fi.
Lossless streaming
If you’re a music lover, you’ve probably heard about Spotify’s plans to bring lossless streaming to its service. However, the company has been relatively quiet about the feature so far. While Spotify has hinted that the feature could launch soon, it hasn’t provided a solid timeline.
In the past, the company has done small tests of high-quality streaming. However, its latest update suggests that the HiFi i feature isn’t on its way just yet.
Spotify’s HiFi tier promises CD-quality lossless audio. The company hasn’t provided many details about this feature, but it has promised to roll it out in select markets later this year. It’s also unclear whether the service will offer hi-res or spatial audio.
Although the ABX test can’t tell the difference between lossy and lossless, a lossless quality setting is already available on other streaming services, including Apple Music and Tidal. Depending on the headphones you use, you may be able to hear more detail and sonic detail than you do with standard audio.
The best part about Spotify’s lossless streaming tier is that it’s free to try. Previously, the only way to try it was to pay for a premium subscription. This has put the company in a tough spot. At least one competitor, Amazon Music, offers high-res lossless music for free.
In addition to the free trial, Spotify is also offering a higher-quality tier than standard streaming. This tier, called the Platinum tier, will include lossless audio streaming as well as features such as the Headphone Tuner, Library Pro, and Audio Insights.
Unfortunately, the company hasn’t announced how much it’s paying artists for these streams, and there’s no concrete timeline for when the HiFi i feature will be released. But given the hype surrounding the feature, it’s not surprising that Spotify is putting some time and effort into it.
The HiFi i tier is the first step in a bigger, more comprehensive lossless audio strategy. Its goal is to steer audiophiles away from other lossless streaming services, such as TIDAL, and to boost Spotify’s credibility among audiophiles. Whether or not the company can meet its ambitious target is still to be determined.
High-res audio tiers
If you’re looking forward to a better sounding Spotify in the near future, you may be disappointed to learn that HiFi hasn’t yet come to fruition. Spotify has not announced a launch date for the new service, nor have they offered any technical details. However, it looks like the service could be on the way, as evidenced by recent leaks.
The first hint of a high-res audio tier came a year and a half ago, when Spotify’s CEO Daniel Ek revealed that the company was planning to offer a “Platinum” tier. Originally, this tier was set to go live by the end of 2021.
The tier was to offer CD-quality, lossless audio. This is the same quality as you can get on Tidal and Amazon Music. Apple also recently launched Lossless Audio, but the company doesn’t charge extra for it.
When the service was announced, Spotify said that the new tier would be available by the end of the year. However, that timeline has been pushed back, and now there’s no concrete information about the tier’s arrival.
Some users on Reddit have recently discovered a leaked video that seems to confirm that the company is building a new HiFi tier. It shows the onboarding process for the service in the mobile app. A survey also revealed that a lot of people were excited about the new service.
Although Spotify’s CEO Daniel Ek has said that the service is “caught up in licensing negotiations,” it appears the company is still committed to delivering a high-res streaming tier. As with many companies, it’s a case of passing projects between different teams, so the release dates of this feature remain unclear.
While we can expect to see more news in the future, the lack of updates on the feature isn’t reassuring. Spotify is still in the middle of a pricing war, and losing subscribers is a serious risk.
With more and more music services offering higher-quality audio streams, the competition may intensify. Spotify has been slow to announce details about the new tier, but it’s not hard to imagine that it will eventually hit the market.
Bluetooth compatibility
The world’s most popular streaming service has announced a new Bluetooth compatibility feature that will enable fans to play Spotify music wirelessly. While this feature isn’t going to be available to every user, it’s a good indication of what to expect from Spotify in the near future.
Despite the lack of a solid release date, it’s likely that this feature will hit shelves later this year. It will be an optional upgrade for Premium subscribers in select markets. Those who opt for the newer feature will get higher quality streams through Spotify Connect.
Unlike Apple Music’s lossless upgrade, this feature won’t be free. Although, it will be a relatively inexpensive add-on to the service. A customer survey suggested that $20 per month was a reasonable price for the feature.
One of the reasons why this Bluetooth feature is important is because of its low latency. This means that users won’t have to worry about syncing issues. Furthermore, it helps reduce the signal delay of audio. Unfortunately, Wi-Fi can interfere with the Bluetooth signal.
Although the feature is a step up from standard streaming, it’s not the best. Spotify’s competition is already taking a stab at it. Other services include Qobuz and Tidal.
Similarly, Amazon Music will be launching its own hi-res catalogue soon. They’ll also be showcasing the aptX HD Bluetooth feature, which will allow consumers to enjoy CD-quality audio. However, it’s unlikely that this feature will be available at the same price point as Spotify HiFi.
If you’re an Android or iOS smartphone owner, you’ll want to check your settings to see if your device is Bluetooth Smart compatible. This is because Bluetooth Smart devices aren’t backwards compatible. You’ll have to unpair all of your devices to make room for the new feature.
Meanwhile, Spotify is working with the biggest speaker manufacturers to ensure that it launches the HiFi feature on the most compatible devices possible. Although Spotify has not confirmed the exact launch date, it has said that the feature will roll out in select markets in the next few months.
The Bluetooth compatible feature is one of many new features that Spotify will be introducing in the coming year. Some of these features include the aptX HD Bluetooth feature, a slew of podcasts, and a high-res library.
Spatial audio
Spotify’s new tier of subscription service, HiFi, is set to launch later this year. It will enable users to listen to music in CD quality. This tier is currently only available to Premium subscribers.
Lossless streaming is expected to be the next big thing for audio streaming services, and there’s no doubt that it could boost Spotify’s credibility among audiophiles. However, it’s unclear exactly how the feature will be implemented. The company has been mostly silent on the matter, though it does say that CD-quality songs will be included in the service.
The company also said that its HiFi feature was “under consideration,” meaning that it was being re-worked. Spotify has been in the market for new features, and HiFi was one of the highest-profile.
Spotify is the world’s most popular music service, and the company plans to expand its offerings in the future. Last February, the company announced a new tier of subscription service, called “Spotify HiFi,” which would enable users to stream music in CD-quality.
But while the company promised to offer the feature by the end of 2021, it has not appeared in the app since. At the start of this year, a thread was started on the community forum, asking if lossless streaming was possible. Users were discussing rival lossless offerings, including Tidal.
The question has been, though, what lossless audio would sound like. Several competing services have released higher-resolution audio. Amazon, for example, has recently upgraded its hi-res catalogue. Apple, meanwhile, has added support for spatial audio.
Although Spotify hasn’t provided any details about the feature, it’s likely that the service will be integrated into its standard app. Like Tidal, Spotify hasn’t made any specific promises about the catalog, but it’s unlikely that it’s lacking in terms of selection.
Some experts have pointed out that the lossless tier will cost more than the standard Premium subscription, but the difference is unlikely to be significant. After all, Apple already offers lossless audio. Similarly, Amazon isn’t charging extra for improved audio, and neither is Tidal.
Despite these differences, it’s clear that Spotify will have to follow in the footsteps of Apple and Amazon in order to provide high-res audio. As such, it might make sense for the company to release a lossless setting of its own.