Spotify’s HiFi Streaming May Finally Come Out This Year

Spotify’s tiered structure will become more complicated this year. The music streaming app reportedly plans to ask customers to cough up another $6 a month for HiFi streaming. It’s a feature Spotify has promised for nearly four years, but to sweeten the pot, the app may also try to entice you with early-access concert tickets, though you’ll still be at the whims of Ticketmaster.

According to a report from Bloomberg citing several anonymous sources, this new HiFi streaming tier is preliminarily labeled as Music Pro. The $6-a-month subscription will sit on top of the current $12 Spotify Premium plans, though it remains unclear if it will be available to all members of a duo or family plan and if it will be an option for students paying $6 a month. The report says the streaming company is still trying to come up with specifics, and there’s no timeline for release. That’s not surprising. Spotify has been working on the details for HiFi since early 2021.

Spotify may throw in more incentives for HiFi audio. First on the list is access to presale and better seat selection from major ticket sellers. According to Bloomberg, Spotify has had “preliminary talks” with promoters and ticket companies. So it’s not like you’ll be able to avoid the reviled sellers at Ticketmaster, though you may be able to cheat the scalpers with such a service.

Additionally, Spotify is apparently so gung-ho on AI it is willing to let users remix multiple tracks from artists with AI. As terrible as that sounds, it may not all come at once. Spotify will roll out these features over time, and if all you want is HiFi audio, you may be able to enjoy it first if the feature ever comes to fruition after four years of waiting. Like every other major tech company, Spotify is on an AI kick despite the negative response to its Spotify Wrapped turgid AI podcasts.

Spotify executives told us that, in 2023, they would release its lossless audio plans “eventually.” We hoped we might see HiFi rear its head two years ago, then again in 2024. With no word from the streaming service, it was easy to chalk up lossless as a dead feature, and even with these latest rumors, we can’t help but wonder if Spotify will ever have the gumption to offer lossless audio compression. Apple currently uses its own Apple lossless Audio Codec for up to 24-bit/192 kHz compression. The company claims this tech is “virtually indistinguishable” from lossless audio.

Still, most regular listeners listening on their non-professional earbuds would struggle to distinguish between a track played on Apple Music, Spotify, or even Tidal’s Max HiFi FLAC. Even still, Spotify needs to keep the gravy train rolling somehow. The company posted its first-ever year of profitability in 2024.

Hopefully, the new tier structure doesn’t include more price hikes. Last year, Spotify increased the cost of every year by $1 or $2 a month and introduced a $10 Audiobook-centric subscription.