Spotify has finally announced its plans to rollout Spotify HiFi, which will enable its users to stream lossless, CD-quality music on their existing devices. It has been in the split testing phase since early 2017.
According to Spotify, its new 'high-quality music experience' will enable CD-quality, lossless audio for existing devices along with Spotify Connect-enabled speakers. However, the company has not revealed any further details regarding the bitrate or codec of the new listening mode.
Currently, the streaming service uses AAC codec for the web player and Ogg Vorbis on desktop and mobile. If Spotify chooses to limit its HiFi mode to 16-bit/44.1kHz audio – implied by 'CD-quality' audio – the streaming service will be at a disadvantage amongst other platforms offering high-resolution audio.
For instance, most of the streaming platforms like Tidal, Amazon, Quobuz, and Deezer already offer high-quality audio that exceeds the technical limits of CD-quality audio. But, on the plus side, this will put Spotify in a better spot as its current direct rival – Apple Music – has no plans to stream high-resolution music as of now.
Sadly though, Spotify HiFi will not be available to all the users at the time of launch. Instead, it will be rolled out to select regions when it goes live later this year. It will be available as an optional upgrade to only the platform's Premium subscription users.