The
saga
of
Spotify
HiFi
has
many
twists
and
turns.
First
announced
over
three
years
ago,
the
music
service’s
higher-quality
streaming
tier
has
still
yet
to
materialize.
Recent
reports
have
said
lossless
audio
will
be
bundled
together
with
other
perks
(like
advanced
library
management,
AI-powered
playlists,
and
headphone
sound
quality
optimization)
as
an
add-on
to
Spotify’s
premium
subscription.
And
today,
during
Spotify’s
earnings
call,
the
company’s
CEO,
Daniel
Ek,
confirmed
that
a
better-than-Premium
offering
is
still
in
the
works
—
though
he
offered
no
firm
timetable
as
to
when
it’ll
be
available.
In
what
might
be
my
favorite-ever
use
of
a
cliche
tech
industry
phrase,
Ek
said
the
effort
is
still
“in
early
days.”
(For
those
keeping
score
at
home,
it
has
been
1,247 days
since
Spotify
first
announced
HiFi.)
“The
plan
here
is
to
offer
much
a
much
better
version
of
Spotify,”
Ek
said.
“Think
something
like
$5
above
the
current
premium
tier.
So
it’s
probably
around
a
$17
or
$18
price
point,
but
sort
of
a
deluxe
version
of
Spotify
that
has
all
of
the
benefits
that
the
normal
Spotify
version
has,
but
a
lot
more
control,
a
lot
higher
quality
across
the
board,
and
some
other
things
that
I’m
not
ready
to
talk
about
just
yet.”
That
pricing
would
match
Bloomberg’s
estimates
of
the
tier
costing
around
$5
extra
on
top
of
Spotify’s
$11.99
monthly
rate.
Whatever
final
form
Spotify’s
lossless
audio
ultimately
takes
will
be
much
different
than
what
the
company
first
envisioned.
By
all
indications,
Spotify
was
caught
flat-footed
when
Apple
and
Amazon
began
offering
higher-resolution
audio
as
part
of
their
standard
subscription
plans.
The
leading
music
streamer
had
always
intended
to
sell
it
for
an
added
premium.
Those
companies
can
be
more
aggressive
with
pricing
since
they’ve
got
numerous
other
divisions
to
help
balance
out
any
losses.
Spotify
isn’t
so
lucky,
so
the
company
has
had
to
rejigger
its
plans
and
come
up
with
an
add-on
package
that
will
hopefully
prove
compelling
to
as
many
of
the
app’s
power
users
as
possible.
Finally,
the
timing
seems
to
be
right.
“There’s
a
good
subset
of
that
group
of
246
million
subscribers
that
want
a
much
better
version
of
Spotify,”
Ek
said.
“Those
are
huge
music
lovers
who
are
primarily
looking
for
even
more
flexibility
in
how
they
use
Spotify
and
the
music
capabilities
that
exist
on
Spotify.”
Bloomberg
reported
that
Spotify
aims
to
roll
out
its
“deluxe”
version
(as
Ek
refers
to
it)
later
this
year.
So,
after
all
this
waiting,
we’ve
only
got
a
few
months
left
before
we
learn
everything
that
the
add-on
plan
entails.
(Originally posted by Chris Welch)
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