Streaming giant Spotify has launched its most expensive subscription tier, aimed at its “most dedicated” users and music fans. The new HiFi audio add-on will cost at least £5 more per month on top of the premium subscription service. The announcement follows the addition of several new subscription tiers, including audiobook and music-only, according to Music Business Worldwide. Spotify’s premium tier is also increasing in price by £1 per month to £11.99. The new HiFi feature was first unveiled in 2021 but has since been delayed in its rollout.
Spotify competitors, including Amazon Music and Apple Music, have already added high-fidelity audio options as part of their standard subscription plans at no additional cost. However, the new HiFi audio tier will make Spotify the most expensive streaming service in the market. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek suggested in April that the new subscription tier aims to target the company’s most dedicated users looking for a “music-only” service in the modern world.
Spotify’s former head of licensing, Adam Parness, wrote in a column for Billboard in May that the company’s new “bundled subscription” is an “ill-informed attempt to deprive songwriters and music publishers of their rightfully earned U.S. mechanical royalties.” He called on the company’s senior leadership team to do the right thing by songwriters and pay them their fair share of royalties. Spotify currently pays artists only $0.003-$0.005 per stream with reports claiming it could pay less royalties to less-popular artists.
The new HiFi audio tier adds to Spotify’s current pricing model, which has come under fire from fans and artists across the world. Ek faced backlash when he claimed on Twitter that the cost of creating “content” or music is “close to zero” in the modern world. Many pointed out the high costs of creating music, including equipment costs, studio time, rehearsal spaces, mixing, mastering, and travel. Non-profit organisation The Mechanical Licensing Collective filed a lawsuit against Spotify US in May, alleging that the company is underpaying royalties following changes to its subscription plans
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