In July, Spotify will be raising prices across the board for all of the music services streaming plans. A new report from Bloomberg says that an additional higher-priced Spotify streaming tier is also in the works, perhaps for the same timeframe.
It's enough to make you pause and reconsider if Spotify is the best music streaming service for your wallet.
According to Bloomberg, Spotify is planning on introducing a new, higher-priced premium plan. The current individual plan is jumping by $1 to $11.99 monthly, and sources told Bloomberg that the new tier could be $5 more per month, bringing the total cost for the hi-fi plan to $16.99.
It doesn't have a name, but the tier would allow users access to high-fidelity audio streams, new tools for playlist creation and managing song libraries.
Apparently, the new tier will be sold as an add-on to existing customers.
Last year, it was reported that a new "Supremium" tier was coming in late 2023 and would hi-fi audio. That plan never appeared, but this new $5 extra plan sounds a lot like that rumored tier.
Spotify first announced Spotify HiFi in February of 2021. In the three years since the company has not yet released anything.
In January of 2022, Spotify responded in its forums, "We know that HiFi quality audio is important to you. We feel the same, and we’re excited to deliver a Spotify HiFi experience to Premium users in the future. But we don’t have timing details to share yet. We will of course update you here when we can."
Since 2021, both Amazon and Apple have begun offering lossless, hi-res streaming at no extra cost.
As reported by What Hi-Fi, Gustav Soderstrom has said that lossless audio is coming. "We’re going to do it in a way where it makes sense for us and for our listeners. The industry changed and we had to adapt."
It's unclear when Spotify will a) actually release high-fidelity audio to its customers or b) when this Supremium tier will actually launch.
In the meantime, Spotify joins the ranks of nearly every other streaming service raising their prices this summer.
