Spotify plans to roll out a 'Music Pro' tier this year that will bring remixing tools, gig ticket access and the lossless audio quality that was promised four years ago, according to a new Bloomberg report. The premium add-on will supposedly cost an extra $5.99 per month in the US, taking the monthly individual subscription price to $17.98. Presumably that would translate to around £18 in the UK and AU$21 in Australia based on those territories' current subscription costs.
The report, which cites ‘people familiar with the matter’ as its source, states that while the streaming service hopes to introduce a Music Pro supplement later in 2025, ‘in phases’ and ‘adding tools and features over time’, timelines and pricing haven’t yet been set in stone. Apparently, Spotify still hasn’t secured the rights from every major music company to pursue its plans.
That doesn’t exactly fill us with confidence for a 2025 release date for Spotify Hi-Fi (the name Spotify initially gave to its promised CD-quality audio offering in 2021), nor does it provide us with any significant news since Spotify CEO Daniel Ek described the project as being "in early days" last July. We still don't know whether this higher-quality streaming will be lossless CD-quality, as per Spotify's plan four years ago, or indeed the superior hi-res quality, as is now offered by Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal and Qobuz (and at a lower price than $17.98, we should add.)
What the report does give us, however, is a promising glimpse into what the Music Pro package could offer in addition to improved audio quality. While previous reports have suggested that an add-on tier would also bless willing subscribers with extra playlist, podcast, headphone and interface features, this latest update indicates that Spotify is looking into AI-driven song-remixing tools that would allow subscribers to mix various songs together, as well as unique concert benefits that could give fans ‘access to presales or better seats’. Regarding the latter, the report says the service is still in ‘preliminary talks’ with ticket sellers and promoters.
Ultimately, and frustratingly, it seems there’s still a lot of ‘wait and see’ here, 1,452 days since Spotify Hi-Fi was first announced.
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