Spotify HiFi Is Coming... or is it?

Spotify announced Spotify HiFi way back in February 2021, but with no release date other than 'some time in 2021'. 

Now here we are in May 2023 and still no Spotify Hi Fi.

We were hoping for an announcement at Spotify's Stream On event in March this year but that didn't happen either. But in more positive news Spotify's Co-President Gustav Soderstrom recently told The Verge that it is definitely still coming: 

“We are going to do it, but 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.”, he said.

The Verge also reports that Spotify have already re-encoded their music files with the lossless codec, and that Spotify employees have access to Spotify HiFi.

We can't help thinking that Apple Music and Amazon Music both adding lossless audio at no extra cost has put a spanner in the works for Spotify - nixing their plans to make Spotify HiFi a step above Premium at an extra cost. 

What is Spotify HiFi?

Spotify HiFi delivers CD-quality sound through the use of lossless codecs. At present their MP3 streaming maxes out at 320kbps, which is fine for casual listening but those of us with quality audio systems want to get as much out of them as possible - hence the excitement!

The plan at this stage is for Spotify HiFi to be CD quality, lossless audio - so not hi-res audio but still a significant step up from the lossy MP3 compression Spotify currently uses.

Will it launch in Australia at the same time as Europe / USA?

That part isn't clear. Spotify have said it's launching in 'select markets' first. Are we one of them? Previously their staged rollouts have focused on the US and Europe first of all, but we're crossing fingers for a global launch.

How do I listen to it?

You'll need to upgrade from Spotify Premium to Spotify HiFi - and the cost of this is not yet clear, but it's likely to be a tier above their current Premium plan. (unless their competition's no-extra-charge for lossless forces Spotify to add HiFi to the Premium tier).

Then you'll be able to listen to Spotify HiFi on your streaming device and your Spotify Connect enabled devices, although many of these may require an update to enable the new service.

Watch this space

We'll post again when we hear more... in the meantime, subscribe to our newsletter below or follow us on Facebook to be first to hear when Spotify HiFi goes live!