Spotify Music Pro to offer exclusive benefits and better sound for a 50% surcharge

Spotify HiFi was announced in February 2021, and the streaming service also planned to offer music in CD quality in the same year. But while competitors such as Amazon Music, Tidal and Apple Music have been offering music in hi-fi quality for years, there has been no sign of this long-announced Spotify upgrade so far. According to the latest information from Bloomberg, this is set to finally change this year, with Spotify HiFi becoming Spotify Music Pro.

But while Apple Music, for example, offers Hi-Fi quality to all subscribers at no extra charge, Spotify is said to be charging around $6 on top of the $12 for Spotify Premium to give users access to higher quality music, although the exact prices and timetables for the rollout around the world are yet to be finalized. In addition to higher quality music, Spotify Music Pro is expected to bring a number of other benefits, including new AI playlists and exclusive access to concert tickets, with subscribers either being able to buy tickets earlier than other customers or premium seating locations being sold exclusively to subscribers. 

Spotify reportedly views this more expensive subscription as an important stepping stone to increasing its own sales now that the market for music streaming is slowly becoming saturated. Spotify recorded growth of 11% to 263 million paying subscribers in 2024. At $11.99 per month, the regular Spotify subscription is just $1 cheaper than the Apple Music subscription. Spotify offers significantly poorer audio quality for this price, but the service aims to do better in offering exclusive podcasts and audiobooks, among other things.