It has been more than three years since Spotify HiFi (the premium tier for lossless audio) was announced; it was supposed to be here by 2021, but it did not appear for years, and by 2024, Amazon Music Unlimited, Apple Music, Tidal and other rivals offer lossless audio as a matter of course.

Last we heard, Spotify's offering was offered as part of the awkwardly named $20/month Supremium package, bundled with playlist mixing, audiobook viewing, and Last.fm-style enhanced statistics

However, the program was to be bundled with Last.fm-style enhanced statistics.

However, Spotify appears to have changed course again, as The Verge discovered, Reddit user Hypixely, who previously discovered Supremium, found a reference to something called Music Pro in the app's code. A screenshot of this code can be seen here." It features the misleading phrase "lossless has arrived.

"Unless Spotify is playing with us, there will be no more Supremium plans," Hypixely writes. Instead, there will be Music Pro, which appears to be an optional add-on to existing plans, rather than a tier in its own right.

Hypixely did not get any pricing information from Code Dive, but this Redditor has some insight into what else the Music Pro add-on will offer. Apparently it will include "advanced mixing tools," the ability to filter the library by mood/activity/genre, headphone optimization (including for AirPods), etc.

"I can't confirm if AI playlists will be part of that, but they're coming too," the Redditor added.

Recently, Spotify hinted at a change in strategy. Gustav Söderström, co-president of Spotify, said of HiFi in a recent interview, "We're going to do it, but we're going to do it in a way that makes sense for us and for our listeners." The industry has changed and we have had to adapt."

So what are the advantages of being an add-on? Certainly more flexibility. With Family and Duo, for example, Spotify can offer each member individually. It could also offer it to free members as a way to take money away from ad-supported free members. 15]

Psychologically, it may be more appealing as well. Users may be reluctant to sign up for an entirely new tier, but may welcome a pop-up asking if they want additional features for a few extra dollars (after all, it's like asking at a fast food restaurant if they want a large serving!)

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We don't know the final price, but the initial $20/month subscription simply won't cut it anymore; both Apple Music and Amazon Music Unlimited include lossless playback in their standard subscription fees, and the new Tidal service will be available for $20/month, Just this week, Tidal lowered the price of its high-resolution subscriptions to match Spotify's standard $10.99 premium fee.

Hopefully, the appearance of the line in the code means that Spotify's plans will be known really soon.