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Spotify HiFi rumors: Expected release date, pricing and more
Published onFebruary 24, 2025
In February 2021, Spotify announced a CD-quality lossless music streaming experience with a new HiFi tier. While the company initially targeted to launch it sometime in 2021, the Spotify HiFi plan never saw the light of day. However, recent developments suggest that the long-awaited feature might finally arrive in 2025, rebranded as part of a “Music Pro” package.
What is Spotify HiFi
When you stream music over the internet, apps like Spotify compress it to consume less internet bandwidth. The service compromises some bits of the music file to better use the available bandwidth.
With the Spotify HiFi plan, the company aims to meet the growing user demand for high-quality music streaming. The music streaming giant promises CD-quality lossless audio format on your phone, desktop, and Spotify Connect-enabled speakers.
According to The Verge,, Spotify won’t simply add lossless audio tracks to its new plan and call it a day. The premium tier is expected to offer additional features beyond audio quality. These might include:
- Advanced mixing tools to customize the order of playlists by beats per minute
- The ability to create playlists with AI
- A soundcheck add-on to learn more about your listening pattern
- 30 hours of audiobook listening every month
Recent information suggests that the plan has evolved further and might now include:
- Early-access concert ticketing
- DJ remixing tools
- Optimization for specific models of earbuds, headphones, and speakers
- Potential karaoke features
- The option to add an additional user account to any premium subscription
When you stream music over the internet, apps like Spotify compress it to consume less internet bandwidth. The service compromises some bits of the music file to better use the available bandwidth.
When will Spotify HiFi come out
While Spotify initially wanted to release the HiFi plan in late 2021, due to licensing negotiations and ever-changing industry trends, the company’s ambitious plan kept facing delays.
Current indications suggest that Spotify will launch the premium tier sometime in 2025. The company may roll out the plan in phases, adding tools and features gradually throughout the year.
Spotify HiFi availability
Spotify is available in around 180 markets in 60 languages. However, don’t expect Spotify HiFi to be available in all regions from day one. There is a high chance Spotify will limit the HiFi tier to specific regions only. Looking at past trends, subscribers in the US and Europe should be first in line to experience Spotify’s take on lossless audio and other premium features.
How much will Spotify HiFi cost?
Previously, Spotify surveyed several Premium subscribers regarding a possible $19.99 monthly Platinum tier. However, recent reports indicate the company plans to price its premium tier more competitively.
The new information suggests that the “Music Pro” package will cost an additional $5 or $6 on top of a standard Spotify Premium subscription (which currently starts at $11.99 per month). This would put the total cost at around $17-18 per month.
This pricing strategy reflects Spotify’s recognition that the competitive landscape has changed significantly since they first announced HiFi. Both Apple Music and Amazon Music now include lossless audio in their standard subscription plans without charging extra.
Will Spotify HiFi have better sound quality than Tidal?
While we don’t have any technical details of Spotify HiFi’s streaming quality, the company did offer 1,411kbps streams to Premium subscribers in 2017. If we consider the same, it is quite an improvement over the current audio quality (Very High setting) in Spotify Premium, which tops out at 320kbps. But how does it compare to Tidal?
Tidal has three audio settings: Normal, HiFi, and Master. The latter two are part of its expensive HiFi Plus plan and offer maximum sound quality with compatible headphones. To put it into numbers, the HiFi audio clips are CD-quality lossless FLAC files streaming at 1,411kbps.
MQA (Master Quality Authenticated) is where Tidal shines and may have the upper hand over Spotify HiFi. It delivers 2,304-9,216 kbps audio in FLAC or WAV files. Do note that you will need capable headphones to get the best out of high-resolution audio files on Tidal.
Although the MQA library is slim, Tidal is working with partners to add more tracks to the collection. In July 2021, the company collaborated with Warner Music Group to add millions of MQA tracks to the catalog. Looking at the numbers, Tidal should be of better quality than Spotify HiFi. But we will hold our final judgment until we take Spotify HiFi for a spin.
Why the long delay?
There are several factors that likely contributed to Spotify’s unusually long delay in bringing HiFi to market:
- Competitive pressure: Shortly after Spotify’s HiFi announcement in February 2021, Apple Music and Amazon Music began offering lossless audio at no additional cost to subscribers, dramatically changing the market dynamics.
- Licensing challenges: According to industry insiders, Spotify has been working to secure rights from all major music companies for their expanded vision of the premium tier.
- Feature expansion: Spotify appears to have recognized that lossless audio alone wouldn’t be enough to justify a price premium, leading them to develop additional features for the package.
- Strategic repositioning: The company’s CEO has mentioned “doubling down on music in 2025,” suggesting that the premium tier is part of a broader strategy to strengthen Spotify’s music offerings.
How many songs will be available on Spotify HiFi?
Spotify Premium offers a catalog of over 100 million songs. The company has yet to share any details regarding the HiFi library. Looking at the competition, both Qobuz and Amazon offer 60 million tracks in CD quality. We don’t expect anything less from Spotify when it joins the lossless trend.
The music streaming market continues to evolve rapidly. While Spotify remains the most popular service globally, Apple Music and Amazon Music have been gaining ground with their comprehensive offerings that include lossless audio at no extra cost. It will be interesting to see how Spotify’s premium tier performs in this competitive landscape when it finally launches after its unprecedented four-year delay.