Spotify HiFi may finally be coming with more expensive subscription plan
Music streaming platform Spotify Technology is planning a more expensive subscription option that is expected to include high-fidelity audio, popularly known as Spotify HiFi, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday. The new tier, called “Supremium” internally, will be the company’s most expensive plan as it aims to drive more revenue and placate investors who have been urging the Swedish company to raise prices, the report said.
The company announced the HiFi feature, which upgrades sound quality of the songs to “lossless” CD-quality music, in 2021. However, it never came through. Even though Spotify never confirmed abandoning the plan, it stayed silent during the company’s major events, including this year’s Spotify Stream On event. The company’s decision not to go ahead immediately with the HiFi rollout could be because its rivals Apple and Amazon began offering lossless streaming as part of their regular subscription tiers.
In other words, Apple Music and Amazon Music’s lossless streaming with spatial audio support at no additional charge derailed Spotify’s plan to charge users for the same features. Spotify could not have asked its subscribers to pay more for lossless streaming when rival services were doing it for free. Launching HiFi at an extra cost would only make sense if Spotify threw some additional features, justifying the highest tier price.
To augment its current premium tier, Spotify will give subscribers expanded access to audiobooks, either through a specific number of hours free per month or a specific number of titles, the report said.
In the United States, Spotify’s individual premium account is priced at $9.99 per month, while a family account with six users is at $15.99 a month. In India, the individual plan costs Rs 119 per month — the most expensive monthly plan of all streaming services. Apple Music, on the other hand, starts at Rs 99 per month for individual users, while Amazon Prime Music is a part of Prime membership that costs Rs 1,499 annually. The new tier will launch this year in non-US markets first, the report added.
Spotify did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
— Written with inputs from Reuters
The post Spotify HiFi may finally be coming with more expensive subscription plan appeared first on Techlusive.
Music streaming platform Spotify Technology is planning a more expensive subscription option that is expected to include high-fidelity audio, popularly known as Spotify HiFi, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday. The new tier, called “Supremium” internally, will be the company’s most expensive plan as it aims to drive more revenue and placate investors who have been urging the Swedish company to raise prices, the report said.
The company announced the HiFi feature, which upgrades sound quality of the songs to “lossless” CD-quality music, in 2021. However, it never came through. Even though Spotify never confirmed abandoning the plan, it stayed silent during the company’s major events, including this year’s Spotify Stream On event. The company’s decision not to go ahead immediately with the HiFi rollout could be because its rivals Apple and Amazon began offering lossless streaming as part of their regular subscription tiers.
In other words, Apple Music and Amazon Music’s lossless streaming with spatial audio support at no additional charge derailed Spotify’s plan to charge users for the same features. Spotify could not have asked its subscribers to pay more for lossless streaming when rival services were doing it for free. Launching HiFi at an extra cost would only make sense if Spotify threw some additional features, justifying the highest tier price.
To augment its current premium tier, Spotify will give subscribers expanded access to audiobooks, either through a specific number of hours free per month or a specific number of titles, the report said.
In the United States, Spotify’s individual premium account is priced at $9.99 per month, while a family account with six users is at $15.99 a month. In India, the individual plan costs Rs 119 per month — the most expensive monthly plan of all streaming services. Apple Music, on the other hand, starts at Rs 99 per month for individual users, while Amazon Prime Music is a part of Prime membership that costs Rs 1,499 annually. The new tier will launch this year in non-US markets first, the report added.
Spotify did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
— Written with inputs from Reuters
The post Spotify HiFi may finally be coming with more expensive subscription plan appeared first on Techlusive.
