Music streaming has been great in making it easier for many to listen to the tunes they want without needing to break the bank to get all the latest songs you love. For real fans though, getting an actual LP or CD remains the ideal goal so that they can listen to their music the way it was imagined, without the loss of audio quality that comes from compressing audio into a format that makes it easier to stream and store.
With internet speeds increasing around the world though, Spotify believes that this sort of compression should no longer be necessary for people that want to hear music at its best, and has announced a new HiFi mode coming later this year that will allow it to stream music uncompressed, directly in the format that you would find it on a CD. Or as Spotify put it at their virtual “Stream On” event, this will “deliver music in CD-quality, lossless audio format to your device and Spotify Connect-enabled speakers, which means fans will be able to experience more depth and clarity while enjoying their favourite tracks.”
Spotify tops out its music quality at 320kbps audio currently, which for most people is still a more than sufficient audio quality. For those audiophiles listening on high-quality speakers or headphones and who have a keen ear for audio fidelity, this should be a feature that is definitely going to be welcome. Previously, if you wanted high-quality audio you’d have to subscribe to Tidal for that increase in percussion perfection.
It’s not clear how much this new plan will cost just yet, as Spotify said it would only be available in select markets. Which pretty much means it’s definitely not coming out here any time soon.
Last Updated: February 25, 2021
