While Spotify is easily the world’s most popular on-demand music service, the company has been oddly slow to catch up on some of the options available from its rivals. It’s rumored that the gap might finally close with an upcoming “Supremium” plan. So what is Spotify Supremium, exactly, and how is it likely to stack up against alternatives?
What is the Spotify Supremium plan?
Allegedly, Supremium will be the final name of HiFi, a lossless audio plan that Spotify first teased in February 2021. The tier was originally due to launch by the end of 2021, but the company then went mysteriously silent. By January 2022 it was forced to admit that it didn’t have a firm launch window. It was only in March 2023 that Spotify president Gustav Söderström confirmed that some form of HiFi was still alive, explaining to The Verge that “The industry changed and we had to adapt.”
The “Supremium” name comes from a September 2023 Reddit leak and an October 2023 Threads post by well-known blogger Chris Messina. Spotify has yet to confirm that branding, or announce any other details, such as a new launch date. Everything we know so far is based on rumors and Spotify’s 2021 goals.
Spotify Supremium features
Supremium’s signature feature should, of course, be 24-bit lossless audio. While we’re not sure what codec(s) Supremium will support, going lossless should allow people with high-end speakers or headphones to hear tracks in the best possible quality. Spotify is said to be shooting for zero lag — realistically though you’ll probably want to be on Wi-Fi or using offline caching, since lossless can be extremely demanding on bandwidth, and could easily blow through cellular data caps when they’re not unlimited.
Another marquee feature could be AI-generated playlists based on prompts. Little is known about this, but Spotify did recently partner with OpenAI on podcast translation, so it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine a ChatGPT-like natural language interface. Hypothetically you could ask for a “creepy ambient playlist for Halloween” and get a playlist with dark ambient artists like Lustmord and Raison d’être.
Adjacent to AI may be additional mixing tools for playlists, for instance letting you set track order according to BPM. A “smart order” feature may automatically rearrange things based on key and tempo, and you may also be able to filter by genre and mood. Cue points could be available for smoother song transitions.
Next on the roster is up to 30 hours of audiobook access. That would be an increase from the 15 hours currently available to Premium subscribers in the U.K. and Australia, and only due to reach the US by the end of 2023. Both options could pose a threat to Amazon’s Audible, which still rules online audiobooks.
Lastly, Supremium customers may be able to filter their entire library by mood, activity, or genre, as well as get a “Soundcheck” that analyzes their listening habits and identifies their unique tastes. That’s another area where details are vague, but conjecturing, it might help you discover if you’re subconsciously into genres like goth, power metal, or J-pop.
How much does the Spotify Supremium plan cost?
The current rumor is that it’ll be $19.99 US, presumably for a single listener. That’s likely accurate, given comparable options elsewhere, and the fact that an existing Premium Individual plan is $10.99.
It’s expected that there will also be Duo and Family versions of Supremium, enabling two or six listeners, respectively. Premium Duo is $4 more than usual, while Premium Family is $6 higher, so look for similar price jumps with Supremium.
Spotify Supremium vs the competition
The most obvious point of comparison is Tidal’s HiFi Plus plan, which starts at $19.99 for individuals and includes not just lossless audio but support for multiple spatial audio formats, namely Dolby Atmos and Sony 360 Reality Audio. It’s unclear whether or not Supremium will have spatial audio, but it’s hard to imagine Spotify foregoing that bulletpoint given the competition and its industry clout. Some other Tidal perks include music videos and Tidal Connect, an equivalent of Spotify Connect.
A tougher challenge might come from Amazon Music Unlimited. That service starts at just $10.99 per month, or $8.99 if you already have Amazon Prime. It only offers a subset of tracks in lossless quality, though it does support Dolby Atmos or Sony 360 Reality Audio. There’s no equivalent of Spotify Connect, but thankfully the service automatically works on any speaker with Amazon Alexa, and more via Google Cast.
The last big service to compare is Apple Music. That one has its entire catalog available in lossless if you subscribe to the $10.99 Individual tier or better. Spatial audio is available, though only via Dolby Atmos. There are some unique perks here, such as a dedicated Classical app and the ability to upload to local files for cloud access. The big catch, as you might imagine, is that while it supports platforms like Android, Alexa, and Google Nest, you’ll only get the most out of it if you have an Apple device.
It’s worth noting that while all of the above services have curated playlists, and/or playlists based on recent habits and followed artists, none of them have anything generated from ChatGPT-style prompts. That would be a first in the industry, and could be a big selling point for Supremium if it works well and isn’t just a gimmick.
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