Spotify launched a new subscription level called Spotify HiFi in February 2021. It said that it would provide lossless audio, as opposed to compressed audio quality with other subscription tiers. It would be available sometime in 2021.
Spotify HiFi has not been launched nearly 11 months after its initial launch. Worse, no launch date is in sight.
A Spotify rep responded to a question on the company forums (via McRumors), and wrote the following.
“We understand that HiFi audio quality is important to your needs. We feel the exact same way, and we are excited to offer a Spotify HiFi experience for Premium users in the near future. We don’t yet have any details on the timing.
It is crucial to note the wording. At first, Spotify HiFi appeared to be an additional tier that would cost extra. Now, it appears that HiFi will be an additional perk for Premium subscribers who pay $9.99.
It’s never too late to upgrade. However, almost all the major Spotify competitors (including Tidal and Amazon Music) offer lossless audio.
The best quality Spotify currently offers is a compressed sound which is “equivalent of approximately 320kbit/s”. A lossless audio quality is a CD-quality audio track with no audio details being lost. However, it will be evident on headphones and audio systems that have higher quality.
