I’m hard-pressed to search out one other instance of a tech firm saying one thing after which ready over 4 years to really ship it, however that’s precisely the situation we’ve reached with Spotify and its long-delayed HiFi function. The newest experiences point out it’s lastly coming in a matter of months as a part of a Music Professional bundle that Spotify hopes will make sure the service’s continued profitability.
However this has grow to be fairly the saga.
By all accounts, this aggressive strategy from each firms completely derailed Spotify HiFi, which was all the time going to demand an upcharge over the service’s common Premium subscription. The corporate went radio silent on the function, and Spotify spokespeople by no means offered any significant updates on its standing.
However I believe Spotify additionally got here to understand that higher-bitrate music streams alone wouldn’t be sufficient to prop up an “final” subscription tier. Lots of people merely can’t hear the distinction between lossy audio (like Spotify affords at this time) and CD-quality streams — or they lack the sort of headphone/speaker {hardware} that might spotlight such an improve.
So the corporate has been transforming the plan right into a broader “Music Professional” add-on that extends far past audio high quality. It’s nonetheless unclear precisely what this may find yourself wanting like: previous experiences have talked about every thing from early-access live performance ticketing to DJ remixing tools. It’s additionally been rumored that Music Professional might provide an “optimization” trick for particular fashions of earbuds, headphones, and audio system. Spotify’s user surveys have hinted at different potentialities together with karaoke — one other factor Apple Music is already doing — and the choice so as to add an extra person account to any Music Professional subscription.
Spotify itself is likely to be undecided on simply what Music Professional ought to entail: Bloomberg reported that the corporate “plans to roll out the plan in phases, including instruments and options over time” and continues to be planning to check new capabilities all through 2025. However the surest signal that Music Professional is definitely taking place is that Spotify is speaking concerning the mission once more. CEO Daniel Ek has talked about an upcoming deluxe tier on a number of events. Final yr, he stated it could provide “all the advantages that the conventional Spotify model has, however much more management, quite a bit increased high quality throughout the board, and another issues that I’m not prepared to speak about simply but.” And just a few weeks in the past, Ek claimed Spotify plans to “double down on music in 2025.”
Each time it does finally arrive, Music Professional will tack an additional $5 or $6 onto an ordinary Spotify Premium subscription, which presently begins at $11.99 per 30 days. I’ve already made the switch to Apple Music, as I like realizing I’m getting the very best quality potential for my cash. However even I’ll be tempted to strive Spotify’s final plan as soon as it’s prepared. I don’t notably miss Spotify Wrapped anymore, but it surely’s nonetheless the platform the place most of my buddies do their listening. If the corporate can string collectively an attractive bundle of perks, there’s all the time an opportunity I’d return. It’d be a troublesome tablet to swallow after utilizing the far much less bloated Apple Music app for thus lengthy, although.