Spotify Could Charge an Extra $5/Month for Better Audio and New Playlist Tools

The new “Hifi” tier that Spotify announced three years ago could finally launch later this year, according to a report from Bloomberg. And it may come with new playlist features to sweeten the pot.

Better audio quality is something that Apple Music and Amazon Music have been offering for years at no additional cost. Spotify, however, recently raised the price of its Premium subscription from $10.99/month to $11.99 in the US, and it’s reportedly planning to offer high-quality audio as as add-on costing an extra $5/month or more.

“Spotify Technology SA will introduce a new, higher-priced premium plan for its most ardent users later this year,” the report said, citing a person familiar with the plan. “Users will be charged at least $5 more per month for access to better audio and new tools for creating playlists and managing their song libraries, said the person.”

The new playlist tools included in the add-on may include the ability to instantly generate playlists tailored for certain activities and events. “The playlists will learn and adapt to each user based on their behavior and eventually develop playlists without prompting,” the report said.

If this add-on does cost an extra $5/month on top of a Premium subscription, users would need to pay $17/month to get the “ultimate” Spotify experience. However, it’s still unclear what kind of premium sound quality Spotify is planning to offer. The company promised lossless audio with its Spotify HiFi plan three years ago. However, both Apple Music and Amazon Music offer a more immersive spatial audio experience today, and they do so at a lower price point.