Spotify HiFi might actually be set to roll out in 2025, new evidence suggests. Photo Credit: Alex Lujan
Audiophiles rejoice? According to yet another wave of seemingly reliable evidence, Spotify HiFi might finally be set to launch.
Spotify client-customization tool Spicetify recently disclosed said evidence, including a number of screenshots, on X. But before that, a Redditor, citing findings from Spotify’s latest app update, suggested improved audio quality could be “right around the corner this time.”
In other words, the newest HiFi rumors are coming from multiple directions. The screenshots, for their part, appear to show a retooled settings section where Spotify users can enable lossless. That refers specifically to 24-bit depth and a 44.1kHz sample rate, the same source indicates.
(In the interest of brevity, we should abstain from diving into audio-quality particulars here. However, DMN Pro’s already compiled technical data for leading DSPs – including their ever-contentious bitrates, which, HD listening or not, vary substantially from service to service.)
Elsewhere in the Spotify app, Spicetify captured another page pushing HiFi, which will reportedly be available via the web player and Spotify Connect. “Say hello to the best sound quality on Spotify,” the text reads. “Listen to high-fidelity music in up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz.”
“Spatial Audio is mentioned in the code, however, I don’t think it’s Dolby Atmos,” Spicetify proceeded on X. “I don’t see any UI or feature regarding Spatial Audio either, just that it exists in code interacting with the player so, don’t expect it anytime soon.”
Does all this mean enhanced audio is actually on the way for Spotify? Not necessarily; it’s now been over four years since eagle-eyed fans spotted HiFi assets in the app. Of course, a listening upgrade didn’t materialize then – or, despite subsequent speculation, in 2022, 2023, or 2024.
It probably doesn’t need saying, but plenty changed during that time. Among these changes: Spotify significantly expanded its userbase, including some growth in the U.S., even after Apple Music and Amazon Music implemented audio upgrades at no added cost for subscribers.
Closer to the present, all sorts of different trends are in full swing. Though Spotify remains atop the streaming mountain in terms of its overall userbase, it parted with Individual subs in the U.S. during early 2025, per DMN Pro’s breakdown of preliminary data.
Consequently, it makes sense to simultaneously unlock new revenue from existing subscribers, close the gap with rivals in terms of audio quality, and possibly woo back audiophiles who left for greener streaming pastures a while ago.
For a couple years, it looked like Spotify would parlay HiFi into a more expensive tier also containing features such as remixing and mashups. Towards 2025’s beginning, said tier, referred to as Supremium, Deluxe, and Music Pro, was reportedly poised for an imminent rollout.
But especially in light of the above-described HiFi rumblings, it’s unclear if a full-scale Supremium launch is in the near-term cards. Most pressingly on this front, songwriters and publishers are far from thrilled with Spotify’s bundling craze and the financial effects thereof.
And as licensing is a mandatory stop on the road to the mentioned remixing and mashup tools, the situation may explain Spotify’s more recent change of tone concerning superfan-geared plans.
Content shared from www.digitalmusicnews.com.