Spotify HiFi Lossless Audio Streaming Subscription Arriving Soon: Will “Supremium” Challenge Apple And Amazon?

Spotify may soon launch a new subscription tier, which would include access to "Lossless Audio". It could be named "Spotify HiFi", and would obviously be priced higher than the Spotify Premium subscription

Internally codenamed "Supremium", Spotify announced the Spotify HiFi lossless audio tier for its streaming service in February 2021. Needless to say, the HiFi subscription has been significantly delayed and repeatedly postponed. Let's look at the latest developments and how they might help subscribers and Spotify.

Spotify Behind Apple And Amazon

Lossless Audio is essentially audio content that hasn't been compressed or its frequencies stripped to reduce file size. Such tactics usually allow for a smaller file size, which in turn, makes streaming them reliable and easier.

Usually, lossless audio is indecipherable from standard-quality audio on budget hardware and via affordable 3.5mm headphones. However, with high-end audio accessories, the difference becomes clear.

Apple and Amazon have been offering lossless audio via their streaming services for quite some time. They are catering to the growing number of audiophiles, and Spotify would obviously want to enter this market.

Spotify offers a single Premium subscription and it has been priced at $9.99 in the US since its original launch in the country. Meanwhile, competitors Apple and Amazon have increased the prices of their standard tiers to $10.99.

What Is Spotify HiFi or Supremium?

Spotify HiFi Spotify co-president Gustav Söderström recently confirmed that Spotify HiFi lossless audio streaming is still on the way. "We announced it, but then the industry changed for a bunch of reasons," he lamented.

Söderström mentioned the company was still trying to work out the financials of the HiFi offering. "We want to do it in a way that works for us from a cost perspective as well. I'm not allowed to comment on our label agreements, nor on what other players in the industry did, for obvious reasons."

Simply put, Spotify hasn't confirmed the final pricing of the Spotify HiFi subscription tier. But it would obviously sit above the Premium subscription.

Incidentally, Spotify is reportedly considering bundling access to audiobooks into its current Premium tier. If this is true, the HiFi tier would obviously include whatever Premium offers, in lossless audio format.