A leak revealed that Spotify will be releasing a new $20 monthly tier called “Supremium” for listeners passionate about high-quality music. The new option also includes audiobook access and new playlist mixing tools.
The well-known blogger Chris Messina is the originator of the leak, and according to him, the “Supremium” tier will have a “sound capsule” customised for listeners as well as “24-bit lossless audio” or high fidelity (Hi-Fi).
“Lossless” is the term audiophiles and music experts use and means audio in its purest form.
Lossless was not used often previously due to the requirement of compressing files so that there is not excessive data usage.
Spotify was allegedly to launch in 2021 but supposedly postponed their lossless audio option after Apple Music and Amazon Music beat them to the punch and offered the service at no additional cost.
With the new tier, Spotify likely intends to boost revenue after the music streaming platform said that second-quarter revenues came in below estimates.
The reason likely stems from the amount of money Spotify has pumped into podcasts and audiobooks, potentially holding them back from hitting their margins.
On the other hand, users rose to 551 million monthly active listeners in the second quarter, which bettered the Spotify forecast of 526.8 million.
According to IBES data from Refinitiv, premium subscribers spiked from 17% to 220 million, surpassing the predicted 216.6 million.
As for whether or not “Supremium” will help boost the company’s revenue, it remains to be seen, but Spotify is making the new tire more attractive by potentially allowing access to 30 hours of audiobooks per month and letting listeners adjust and customise their library by activity, mood, and genre.
