We’ve been around for a while (years actually) talking about the arrival of Hi-Fi quality on Spotify. The conversation obviously reached one of its peaks when the company itself officially announced it in early 2021, but given that at the time there were already other services that offered this level of quality (such as Prime Music and Tidal), in It was actually something that users have been asking for for a long time.

I won’t remember everything that has happened since then, because I have already done so several times (most recently a few days ago), suffice it to say that it will soon be three and a half years since this announcement and that we are still waiting Well and the only official statement on the matter nor did it serve to dispel our doubts. Yes, exactly, I mean the well-remembered “Someday something will come” from March 2023. In all honesty, we can’t say that was a lie, because “someday” could be… exactly, any moment between saying that phrase and the second before the universe dies.

As a result of this delay and the taking of positions by its main competitors, more of us have been asking the question for a long time, and it is the question that opens this publication, Does Spotify Have a Hi-Fi Future? All the rumors we know so far are talking about a price increase over the standard plan. In this sense, the latest information (admittedly unofficial) tells us that the monthly cost of the Hi-Fi subscription will be 5 euros/dollar. This means that if the standard tariff has a monthly fee of 10.99 euros, Hi-Fi mode should cost 15.99 euros.

In line with the latest leaks in this regard, today I read two opinions that, for different reasons, believe that Spotify’s Hi-Fi plan has a commercial path, that is, that it can attract many users. I summarize them below:

• A mature market: Glenn Peoples in Billboard reports that market demand for higher sound quality has matured in recent years, and that there may now be a greater willingness on the part of users to pay more for the extra quality. It also mentions the possibility of creating a package with more “premium” features and content to encourage users to rent it.
• Social function: Becky Scarrott at TechRadar suggests that many users will agree to pay more for Spotify Hi-Fi rather than jump to other platforms because of the appeal of Spotify’s social features (and its reach), loyalty to the platform and the convenience of keeping your playlists.

I start from the premise that they seem to me to be two very respectable and interesting opinions which They bring more nuance to the question which, as I said before, many of us have been doing for some time. However (and this is my opinion, which of course is worth no more than theirs) there is only one reason, of all the ones they suggest, that I think could help Spotify “sell” its Hi-Fi plan, and that is a combination of loyalty to a platform with the convenience of not having to transfer lists, favorites, contacts, etc.

It is true that the market has matured a lot in recent years and the demand for higher quality is much higher than it was three and a half years ago. But for this very reason, Services that already offer this level of quality have established themselves as the best options for users who prioritize this aspect over others (with a particularly notable peak among classical music lovers thanks to Apple Music Classical). Believing that they may be willing to pay more only for the moment it goes to market, it focuses exclusively on those who are already users, for the reason stated at the end of the previous paragraph.

On the other hand, will the average user agree to pay an additional five euros per month (sixty euros per year, which adds up to 131.88 of the twelve annual installments of the standard tariff) to share what they hear with their contacts? There are certainly more than one person who does, but after last year’s increase in the prices of streaming services, when Spotify once again caught up with services that offer Hi-Fi quality, I seriously doubt users will accept this price increase just for social features.

What do you think? Would you be willing to pay €15.99 per month for Hi-Fi Spotify when other services offer this quality for €10.99 per month? And if your answer is yes, what are the reasons?