Spotify Hi-Fi: Steet Streams

Four years after the initial announcement, Spotify HiFi is about to launch. But what is it, how can you get it and do you really need it?

The green giant has finally given the green light to higher-quality audio. Set to launch later this year, Spotify HiFi is the service’s long-awaited entry into CD-quality streaming.

According to Spotify, highquality music streaming has been one of its users’ consistently most requested new features – though that should come as little surprise after four years of waiting for it to arrive. The company initially revealed the higher-quality service in a teaser in 2017, but it wasn’t until February this year that the Spotify HiFi tier was announced to the world.

The HiFi tier will allow Premium subscribers to upgrade their membership so they can listen to significantly better quality streams than are currently available. The big question is how will Spotify HiFi compare with existing lossless audio propositions, such as Tidal, Qobuz, Deezer and Amazon

Music HD?

What is Spotify HiFi?

Spotify has yet to reveal the technical details of its higherquality streams, but according to the company, subscribers will be able to listen to ‘music in lossless audio format, with CD quality’.

Lossless files carry more data and are consequently richer in detail, so the HiFi tier should be a significant step up in quality over Spotify Premium. Streaming currently maxes out at 320kbps, the top bitrate threshold for MP3, however Spotify HiFi is set to introduce 1411kbps streams, often referred to as ‘CD-quality’.

But while Spotify HiFi’s CDquality offering is good news, it’s worth noting that there are already a number of streaming service rivals that go beyond CD-quality and into high-resolution territory. This is generally known as ‘higher than CD-quality’.

For example, in the case of some of its Tidal Masters tracks, Tidal HiFi streams files at up to 9216kbps, as does its rival hi-res service Qobuz. Amazon Music HD also boasts a catalogue of hi-res music. Given that it has already pegged HiFi as ‘CD-quality’, it seems unlikely Spotify will commit to hi-res audio.

Spotify hasn’t yet revealed whether it will follow in the footsteps of Tidal and Amazon Music HD in their support of new and immersive 3D audio streams, such as 360 Reality Audio tracks and Dolby Atmos Music. The company has also yet to release any details as to the number of tracks or albums that will be available in lossless CD-quality, though it is likely to be in the tens of millions.

However, Spotify’s success so far isn’t only down to the size of its catalogue, impressive though that is. It is also among the smartest, most versatile and best presented streaming services. Its hugely popular ‘Discover Weekly’ feature uses AI and machine learning to generate a playlist of 30 songs that are relevant to your listening habits, so no doubt those clever algorithms and the clear and easily accessible interface will be put to good use to nudge subscribers towards any exclusive, CD-quality content.

Where, when and how?

Spotify is currently available in some 180 countries and 60 languages, so it’s likely that there will be a staggered roll-out of its HiFi tier. Spotify has confirmed

that it will launch HiFi in ‘select markets’ first.

But even within those select markets, the date you can access the new tier could depend on the type of device you are using.

Spotify has confirmed that these CD-quality streams will be compatible with Spotify Connect, which is an easy way of wirelessly playing streams from the Spotify app on a smartphone or tablet to a Connect-compatible device over wi-fi – without the need for a convoluted Bluetooth pairing.

It is possible that newer Connectenabled devices, such as the Sony PlayStation 5, could get the Spotify HiFi upgrade before some older devices.

That said, Bluetooth aptX and aptX HD can stream in CD-quality, so as long as a user’s source (say, the Spotify app and the smartphone it’s playing on) and receiver (a Bluetooth speaker or wireless headphones) both support that Bluetooth codec, the higher streaming quality should be upheld.

The finer details of Spotify Connect compatibility are yet to be revealed, but presumably Spotify HiFi subscribers will be able to play high-quality streams between their phone (via the apps) or computer (via the desktop app or web player) and the everincreasing numbers of Connectenabled speakers, TVs and audio systems on the market. Spotify Connect has become one of the most popular streaming features, and the majority of networked streaming devices out there should support the protocol.

“We’re working with some of the world’s biggest speaker manufacturers to make Spotify HiFi accessible to as many fans as possible through Spotify Connect,” the company says.

That statement potentially leaves the door open to the possibility that Spotify HiFi could be accompanied by a high-end Spotify-branded speaker, in the same way other brands, including Google and Amazon, have recently moved into the speaker market.

How much will it cost?

With several music streaming services already offering their own CD-quality subscription tiers, pricing will no doubt be a key factor here. Spotify’s existing popularity and subscription base, along with its class-leading ease of use, could give its HiFi tier a huge advantage over its rivals. For Tidal and Qobuz in particular, their hi-res offerings once being unique selling points, the arrival of Spotify HiFi is likely to remove that sense of exclusivity and uniqueness.

Spotify has yet to announce the all-important monthly fee, but based on what its main competitors offer, we can speculate on what the company might charge. Amazon Music HD, the most affordable hi-res audio streaming service, currently costs US$12.99 for Amazon Prime members. However it is not yet available in Australia, despite Amazon launching locally.

However, Amazon’s service also offers hi-res (higher than CDquality) streams, so will Spotify match or even undercut that temptingly low monthly fee? Possibly not. Most industry analysts expect Spotify HiFi to cost somewhere between $15 and $20.

So, do we want Spotify HiFi?

In a word, yes. Spotify is the world’s biggest music streaming service, so the fact that it is finally embracing high-quality music can only be a good thing. But thanks to a trio of fine alternatives currently flying the flag for hi-res streaming, we can’t exactly say we need

Spotify HiFi.

The impact Spotify HiFi will have on audiophiles is clear: they get better sounding music and a simple way to stream it to networked wireless speakers and music systems – in the same way Google Chromecast and Tidal Connect do for Tidal’s hi-res streams.

Spotify already has its classleading curation and a wealth of discovery features, including branded playlists, such as Discover Weekly and Daily Mixes, and to be able to enjoy them in a higher quality would be a bonus. Artists would have the satisfaction of their fans hearing music even closer to how it was intended and, of course, it also builds on Amazon’s efforts to promote good audio quality in the mainstream market.

Those who care about audio quality might be willing to pay a little more for Spotify’s class-leading experience, device integration and handy Spotify Connect feature. But will Premium subscribers want to splash out even more for their current monthly fee?

The news of Spotify HiFi’s launch won’t exactly have been music to the ears of Amazon, nor the likes of Deezer, Tidal and Qobuz, who may struggle in the face of Spotify raising its game. After all, higher audio quality was their main USP – take that away and you wonder whether there is the demand in the market for four or five similar high-quality audio services to compete.