Spotify Hi-Fi is coming, someday. So says co-director Gustav Söderström of the music service in an interview with The Verge.
Spotify HiFi has become something of a running gag in the world of streaming audio. Where all the competition has long since offered lossless streaming, Spotify still does not. The “people’s streamer” was also passed over in May 2021 by Apple, which offers lossless for their standard streaming price. It put Spotify on the spot: continue with the rollout also promised for that year and then still at a hoped-for premium price or cancel. In the first case, there was a good chance that Spotify – already not the first choice of hi-res music fans – would generate little to no additional revenue. So cancelling seemed a better option. And then just wait for the tide to possibly turn and “the rest” to come to their senses. That didn’t happen, and so Spotify has to settle for lossless streaming at the same price, or abandon ‘project hi-res’ altogether.
There is ‘hope’
Then again, the latter – according to this article from The Verge – is not the case. Which means Spotify is still looking for a revenue model. And that could consist of a premium subscription that includes not only lossless, but also other perks. Think Dolby Atmos Music spatial streams or premium podcasts, for example. Problem here is, a music lover may not be very interested in that. Resulting in a jump to, say, Apple or Qobuz. Plenty of choice, after all, these days. In short, this seems like a typical case of a missed opportunity.
