Spotify’s response on lossless streaming is still not available
after it was announced in February
2021 will have been the year that Apple finally embraced
lossless music streaming and prices for hi-fi listening came down at Amazon and
Tidal. But the biggest subscription music service of all, Spotify, seems likely
to miss its original target for launching a higher-quality streaming plan.
Spotify HiFi, first announced all the way back in February,
has yet to roll out despite the company’s early estimate that it would debut
“later this year.” At the time, Spotify said HiFi would be available in select
markets and that the company would “have more details to share soon.”
Over the next 10 months, those details never came.
In the meantime, Spotify’s competitors did not wait around. In
June, Apple Music rolled out lossless and hi-res playback offering an enhanced
audio quality at no extra charge. Before that, services like Amazon Music
Unlimited and Tidal demanded an added premium for the feature. But on the same
day that Apple proclaimed its plans for lossless streaming, Amazon said it
would lose the higher subscription price and include HD quality in the regular
premium plan. It’s officially table stakes now.
There have been infrequent signs of Spotify HiFi through the
year; a “HiFi” button could (very briefly) be marked in the app back in May — comprehensive
with explainers on using the feature. And an onboarding video for HiFi was
leaked in August.
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