It looks like Spotify's HiFi tier isn't coming anytime soon

The company says it has no timing details to share on its release

Spotify first revealed its plans to launch a new HiFi tier for its subscription service in February of last year, which would provide Premium subscribers with high-quality, audiophile-grade music for an additional price. This was supposed to be released before the end of 2021, but as you can probably tell by a glance at your calendar, we're now well into 2022, and that hasn't happened. The release is now looking muddier than ever as Spotify is refusing to give us a new ETA.

In response to a thread in the Spotify Community forums (via 9to5Mac), the company stated that Spotify HiFi is still in the works, but that it doesn't have any details on a possible release date. To put it another way, a launch isn't likely to happen anytime soon, so don't hold your breath.

We know that HiFi quality audio is important to you. We feel the same, and we’re excited to deliver a Spotify HiFi experience to Premium users in the future. But we don’t have timing details to share yet.

Spotify is under increasing pressure to release this feature, especially now that competitors have joined the fray. Apple Music added spatial audio and lossless streaming support last year, while Tidal has offered MQA music in its catalog since 2017. What's more, in the case of Apple Music, those upgrades are free for existing subscribers, which makes it more enticing than Spotify's current proposal — an additional cost on top of the existing Premium subscription. Combine that with the fact that both Apple Music and Spotify are $10 a month, the former suddenly becomes the better deal.

And what's the reason behind the delay? We'll leave those theories to you, as the forum response doesn't provide any details on it either. One hypothesis is that Apple Music's approach to lossless music made Spotify rethink its own, so now it needs a little bit more time in the oven. While it remains one of the world's most popular music streaming apps, it won't be long before the race for hi-fi streaming becomes a catch-up game.

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