Some Spotify users have reported being offered access to a Spotify Hi-Fi lossless streaming service via an in-app notification.
The CD-quality tier, called Spotify Hi-Fi, was reportedly available to subscribers in the US for an extra $7.50 per month. Spotify currently charges £9.99/$9.99 per month for its Premium service, which delivers 320kbps Ogg Vorbis streams.
CD-quality lossless streaming is currently offered by Tidal, Qobuz and Deezer, all of which charge £19.99/$19.99 per month, as opposed to £10 per month for their respective standard tiers. Tidal has also recently added even higher quality, high-resolution audio streams (called Tidal Masters), for no extra cost.
MORE: What is high-res audio?
The Verge reports that Spotify appears to be offering the quality upgrade to users for between $5 and $10 extra per month, potentially testing the waters for demand - and to decide on a final price.
With streaming services having to negotiate with music labels and artists over pricing, it would be a big move for Spotify to break from the established premium pricing structure of £20/$20 per month for lossless audio. But as the biggest player, despite a rapidly growing Apple Music, Spotify may have the clout to offer CD-quality streams for slightly less.
Spotify responded to the rumours, stating: "We are always testing new products and offers but have no news to share at this time."
