That Spotify has a high-resolution audio tier in the works is not a surprise. Quite the opposite in fact, because Spotify itself has been teasing Spotify HiFi since early 2021. And, yet, the world’s leading music streaming service still doesn’t have a feature enjoyed by Apple Music, Amazon Music, and Tidal subscribers.
But Spotify CEO Daniel Ek did address the audiophile elephant in the room during the company’s second-quarter 2024 earnings call on July 23, 2024.
“Part of why I believe the subscription business in the last year or two has been doing better is because we’ve moved from that one-size-fits-all [plan] to a much more tailored proposition where consumers now have everything from the basic tiers to duo to, you know, family plans to student plans. There’s just many more options for you to subscribe to Spotify.”
Ek acknowledged that a good number of Spotify’s 246 million Premium subscribers want higher-quality audio. He’s also previously said that lossless audio isn’t for everyone — and indeed, there’s a real chance you can’t tell the difference — which could explain why it’s been three years since the feature was announced, with still no results to be seen.
“The plan here is to offer a much better version of Spotify,” Ek said. “So think something that could be something like $5 above the current premium tier. It’s probably around the $17, or $18 price point. Sort of a deluxe version of Spotify that has all of the benefits that the normal Spotify version has, but a lot more control, a lot higher quality across the board.”
A single subscription to Spotify Premium currently costs $12 a month after a price increase earlier this year.
Ek declined to elaborate further, including as to when this higher tier of service might actually be available. Spotify HiFi previously was touted as “lossless CD-quality,” which would be a marked step up from its current lossy offering.
“It will be a net positive for the entirety of music industry,” Ek concluded, “and will further enhance the growth of the music industry …, so we’re quite excited about it. But it’s early days.”
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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