Spotify could finally launch its much-anticipated hi-fi tier this year, according to a report from Bloomberg. Spotify’s CEO, Daniel Ek, has openly discussed the launch of a new premium tier to compete with Apple Music and Amazon Music — both of which have added lossless, hi-res catalogs at no extra cost — but Ek has been coy about the timing for such a tier.
Internally, the new subscription level is being referred to as “Supremium,” according to the report, and it may include expanded access to audiobooks, in addition to lossless audio versions of the company’s music library. Bloomberg’s reporting doesn’t indicate exactly when Supremium will launch, but it says that the new service will initially only be offered to non-U.S. markets.
The report was also silent on what the new plan will cost, but it seems certain it will be more expensive than the current Spotify Premium plan that costs $10 per month in the U.S. Ek has said in the past that a price bump will likely happen. “I feel really good about our ability to raise prices over time — that we have that ability,” he said during the company’s first earnings call of 2023. “And we have lots of data that backs that up. … When the timing’s right, we will raise [rates], and I think that price increase will go down well because we’re delivering a lot of value for our customers.”
Spotify recently announced that it was terminating a podcast deal it had struck with Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, with one Spotify executive referring to the royal couple as “grifters,” according to CNN.
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