Spotify has been lagging behind its other music streaming platform competitors for a while now, but that does not mean it does not have plans of catching up.
According to Bloomberg, the music streaming platform giant is simply biding its time; and it is finally ready to unveil its newest and deluxe premium plan which will finally include high-fidelity or Hi-Fi streaming and audiobooks.
On the other hand, Spotify spokesperson Laura Pezzini refused to comment about the upcoming premium plan, At Spotify, we are constantly iterating and ideating to improve our product offering and offer value to users.
"But we don't comment on speculation around possible new features and do not have anything new to share at this time."
Spotify 'Supremium'
The new plan is called "Supremium" and it will be Spotify's most expensive plan, and the most prominent add-ons to it are the Hi-Fi and additional audiobook features.
"We announced it, but then the industry changed for a bunch of reasons," explained Spotify co-president Gustav Söderström about Hi-Fi.
"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."
Aside from the new features, one of the things Spotify is working on is the cost aspect of it, as well as the label agreements.
On the other hand, other competitors like Apple Music and Amazon Music have both launched and begun offering the feature back in 2021.
Both competitors have raised the prices for their premium plans to $10.99 per month from $9.99, while Spotify remains at $9.99.
New Spotify Features
Hi-Fi refers to the high-quality reproduction of sound. It is a term that has been coined back in the 1950s, which means the audio equipment was able to "faithfully reproduce music."
"My take on 'high fidelity' is that wireless audio and streaming - mostly from phones - has changed the audio game for the better," explained Bardy Bargenquast, the co-founder of Audioengine.
"[...] It's really about everything along the audio stream - from recording, mixing, mastering, digital file format encoding/decoding, and finally to the consumer gear we use to listen."
Other than Hi-Fi, Spotify's "Supremium" will also tackle the rising demand for audiobooks.
As of this writing, Spotify's plans for audiobooks are limited. Subscribers can only access it by purchasing individual audiobooks.
However, with "Supremium" being propelled forward, subscribers might see free audiobooks become available on the application.
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