Unbelievable but true: the most popular and used music streaming platform in the world is among those with the worst audio quality. Yet it is like this: Spotify does not offer a lossless audio serviceeven if for years the Swedish giant has been talking about a high-quality reproduction service called Spotify HiFi.
The platform had announced the launch of HiFi in 2021, but two years later the functionality remains a huge question mark. In the meantime, competitors have certainly not stood idly by. Apple Music successfully launched lossless audio, as well as it did too Amazon Music e Tidalin the face of decidedly more prohibitive subscription costs, currently offers the highest reproduction quality on the market.
Spotify HiFi: Myth, Legend or Reality?
According to a recent report from The Verge, Spotify would have completed the lossless audio tests for over a year. However, according to the report, the company has decided to pause the rollout of the feature following the introduction of lossless audio by Apple and Amazon. Apple Music and Amazon Music, in fact, offer superior audio quality at no additional cost. However, it should be remembered that Apple Music and Amazon Music, unlike Spotify, do not have a free listening plan.
Spotify’s original plans therefore envisaged the launch of HiFi as a form of Premium subscription, at a higher price. After the cost-free launch of Amazon and Apple’s lossless, the Swedish giant would have decided to review its strategy, pausing the project just like we pause songs on Spotify.
The Verge report also cites an interview by Gustav Soderstrom – co-president of Spotify – to the microphones of Decoder. In the interview Soderstrom said: “We announced Spotify HiFi, but then the industry changed for a number of reasons. We will roll out the feature, but we will do it in a way that makes sense to us and our listeners. The industry has changed and we have had to adapt”.
A sentence that translated from Marketinghese could mean: we’ll roll out the feature when we figure out how to make money on it.