Tech

Spotify HiFi: “Something will come at some point”

It seems a lie, but It’s been more than two years since the announcement of Spotify HiFi. As we already told you at that time, they didn’t tell us much about this new version of the service, for example, they didn’t tell us about the sound quality that the songs would have, what percentage of their catalog would have HD versions, in what geographies It would debut and more, but at least they did anticipate that it would be released at some point of the year in some countries.

That was in February 2021, we are in March 2023 and, during all this time, the most relevant news in relation to the sound quality that Spotify offers has been the criticism of Neil Young, after making his recordings leave the service. On the part of the company we have only obtained silence for an answer, in another example of its policy of making big announcements that are later delayed, canceled and forgotten, something that we have already seen several times in relation to podcasts.

It escapes no one, however, that Apple shot to give by announcing, a few months later, that the Apple Music catalog was making the leap to HiFi, and that this would not affect the price of the monthly subscription to the service. Worse still, Amazon informed, that same day, that its subscription plan Prime Audio HD lowered its price to 9.99 euros, that is, what had been the price of the standard quality service modality up to then. Could it be worse for Spotify? Actually yes, since in November of the same year, Tidal lowered the price of its HiFi service, also to 9.99 euros.

Spotify’s plans, and this is evident, they went through charging a higher monthly fee for the HiFi service, but the movements of its competition were sticks in the wheels, which explains why the company had to put the brakes on its plans and completely rethink its strategy. This, in these circumstances, would be completely understandable, I doubt that anyone would have criticized the service if, when the time came, it had reported changes in this regard.

Spotify Hi-Fi: "something will come sometime"

The problem is that instead of choosing to act that way, What we have found has been the silence for an answer, and when one of their managers is faced with questions on this matter, the vagueness of their answers is between bewildering and annoying. And this is exactly what has happened in an interview by The Verge with Gustav Söderström, co-president of the company, a meeting in which the interviewer and the interviewee talk about the news of the platform, and in which the last questions are dedicated to Spotify. (primedentistry.net) HiFi.

The round of questions begins unceremoniously, since the interviewer affirms that «it’s really unusual for a company to announce something and then just ignore it for two years«, to which Söderström appeals to the changes that have occurred in the industry. He doesn’t mention the moves by Apple, Amazon, and Tidal, but it’s still pretty obvious. From that point on, the interviewer does bring up those changes in the industry that the Spotify executive does not clearly addresswhile the latter focuses on affirming that there are still plans in this regard.

However, all the statements in this regard are quite vague, since no dates, plans or prices are mentioned, nothing, just that they are working on it. Thus, the interview ends like this:

Question: Ok, will there ever be a lossless Spotify HiFi experience?

Answer: Something will come at some point. Yeah.

«something will come sometime“, is the only thing Spotify can say more than two years after announcing its high-quality sound service. I don’t know what you think, but personally I find it a tease and a lack of respect for usersespecially those who have been waiting for Spotify HiFi since 2021. I can understand the thousand and one reasons that have prevented Spotify from launching this service, but not that, so long after, the only thing they have to say about it is «something will come sometime«.

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