If you were hoping for higher quality Spotify streaming, it looks like your prayers have finally been answered: Spotify Supremium, the service formerly known as Spotify HiFi, appears to be ready for launch.
But while lossless audio is the main feature here, it’s not the most interesting. And that’s probably a good thing, because lossless audio is free on many of the competing top music streaming services like Apple Music and Amazon Prime Music, but Spotify Supremium is expected to cost more.
According to the leaked code of the official Spotify app, you are looking at $20 per month, which is in line with previous rumors that circulated about it. So, what else do you get than better bitrates?
Three important features in Spotify Supremium
In addition to the lossless audio, the leaked code also appears to reveal some key features around music personalization and discovery. First up is the AI-based playlist generation, which should do an even better job of finding music you like and music you don’t know you like yet. In addition to smooth transitions, it should deliver a slicker musical experience that suits you more.
That continues with playlist sorting, which will have new options including what appears to be a new sort by danceability feature – so if you’re listening to a bunch of pop bangers, Spotify won’t suddenly kill the vibe. a sad song about the drummer’s dead dog.
And most interesting of all: there’s Soundcheck. That looks like a mix of the existing Daily Mixes and Spotify Wrapped features, and will apparently analyze your listening habits to create ‘uniquely you’ music.
These new features complement new features recently added to the service, such as support for up to 32 people managing the same playlist in the Spotify Jam feature, and Daylist, which adjusts your music based on the time of day of what you listen to at certain times.
Will that be enough to lure people back from competing services? For me, it’s a no: I left Spotify partly because of the sound quality, but mostly because of Joe Rogan, and as a happy Apple Music listener, the prospect of paying more money to get the same bitrate I’m already getting is hardly enticing. And if you’re really serious about listening to the best possible audio quality on the best headphones, you’ll be better off with Tidal HiFi Plus, which costs about the same as the rumored Spotify Supremium but delivers Hi-Res audio in multiple formats. .
The new playlist and discovery features sound nice, though, and if they’re as good as they sound, they could convince existing Spotify subscribers to upgrade to the more premium tier. We’ll find out soon enough: Spotify Supremium is clearly very close to launch.