Spotify appears poised to put the final nail in Tidal’s coffin.
The music streaming service is planning to launch a new feature that will give listeners access to lossless audio streaming, according to a new report reveals the feature is currently in testing.
Spotify is currently calling the new feature “Spotify Hi-Fi.” The Verge reports that Spotify plans to launch the lossless CD quality audio feature. It’s unclear when it will be available to all users, but Spotify is already doing some small group testing.
Photo: Reddit
Getting high-fidelity audio on Spotify won’t be cheap. A few users received notifications within the app to add Spotify Hi-Fi to their account. Screenshots posted on Reddit show that Spotify plans to charge between $5 to $10 extra a month for lossless CD quality audio.
Some notifications for Spotify Hi-Fi show that it may include extra perks like discounts on limited edition vinyls and one free vinyl record.
The move to support lossless audio isn’t much of a surprise. Tidal established its service as the best way for audiophiles to stream the highest-quality music possible. It has been rumored in the past that Apple was looking to make a similar move with Apple Music, but there haven’t been any clear signs of an impending launch of Apple Music Hi-Fi.
Adding hi-fi audio could help Spotify boost its subscriber numbers well past the 40 million mark it recently set. The company declined to comment on Spotify Hi-Fi saying it has “no news to share at this time.”
