Whereas Apple Music has managed to offer its subscribers Lossless Audio for ages, Spotify’s HiFi functionality still remains out. According to Co-President Gustav Söderström, that won’t change anytime soon either. Although the feature will come eventually.
He makes this clear in an interview with The Verge. In the most recent episode of Decoder, a podcast in which editor-in-chief Nilay Patel talks with notable tech figures, he cites the feature, and the reason it is still not there, himself.
Apple Music spurned Spotify HiFi
Two years ago, Spotify announced a HiFi subscription service. Obviously intended for the true enthusiast who prefers to get his music without loss of quality. It logically created enthusiasm, but anno 2023 the functionality is still nowhere to be seen.
Gustav Söderström may not say it, but he does point the finger at Apple Music. “After we announced it, the industry changed for various reasons,” he reveals. By this, Spotify’s co-president is logically referring to Apple’s streaming service.
After we announced it, the industry changed
Indeed, the idea was that Spotify would launch its HiFi functionality, at an increased rate, at the end of 2021. Or let’s put it better: since then, the functionality has been ready for launch. Anyway, then Apple Music came out with Lossless Audio, which was free for existing subscribers to use.
Spotify decided to withdraw its plans and today is still looking for a way to bring HiFi to consumers.
What exactly is HiFi?
HiFi stands for High Fidelity and refers to sound quality that reproduces the original recording as accurately as possible. HiFi audio equipment and services strive for the most faithful sound reproduction possible.
Streaming service waits for the right moment
American website The Verge recently found out that Spotify HiFi has now been in the starting blocks for more than a year. Yet the company is still not marketing the functionality. According to Gustav Söderström, there is an obvious reason for that.
“We are really going to do it,” he says in Decoder. “But we have to do it in a way that it makes sense for us as a company and for our listeners. The industry has changed a lot and we have to anticipate that.”
We’re really going to do it
Like everything else in life, of course, the decision revolves around money. Spotify can currently offer the functionality for an additional cost, but in doing so it is going to lose subscribers to Apple Music. “We have to do it in a way where the cost is right for us as well,” he concludes.
