Spotify music streaming to soon get more expensive, here's how to escape it

Spotify has been long-rumoured to be working on a new plan to start offering lossless audio finally. However, this plan will not cost as much as the existing ones. A recent report said the world’s biggest music streaming company plans to introduce the lossless audio feature as part of a new add-on, ultimately increasing the subscription’s price. Instead of erstwhile names such as Spotify HiFi, this plan will be called “Music Pro.”

While a super plan to allow users to stream lossless audio makes sense for Spotify, which has been struggling to counter Apple Music, the Music Pro plan may not sit well with most users. That is because Apple Music allows users to stream lossless audio with Dolby Atmos support for no additional cost. Spotify’s subscriptions are already more expensive than those of Apple Music and an even costlier plan for lossless audio does not sound like a great plan to retain users.

Cost difference

In India, Spotify’s individual subscription costs ₹119 per month with support for only 320Kbps ad-free streaming. Apple Music, on the other hand, charges subscribers ₹99 per month for 24-bit lossless audio quality, some of them enhanced with Dolby Atmos.

Lossless audio

Lossless audio refers to the audio quality that has no compression of any information, giving users an experience as if they were sitting in the recording room. However, most customers do not bother about this audio enhancement, considering the regular audio quality in streaming apps is good enough for them. That makes lossless audio irrelevant to many users, but since Apple Music users do not have to pay anything extra for that feature, they do not mind having it.

Spotify users will have no such option if the report is anything to go by. Users may need to pay additionally for lossless audio. And even if they choose not to use this feature to save monthly costs, Spotify’s subscription is costlier than Apple Music’s. While there is no confirmation from Spotify about the upcoming Music Pro plan or how its subscriptions would change, customers looking for a cheaper option can consider other music streaming apps.

Spotify alternatives

Apple Music

The first and most popular alternative to Spotify is Apple Music. Even though it is closely tied to the Apple ecosystem for a seamless experience, non-Apple users can access Apple Music on a range of devices. Apple Music works on Android phones, select Android TVs, Google Nest devices, Amazon Echo devices, and Chromecast. It even works on the Web, which is also where users can sign up for the service. Apple Music offers a wide catalogue of music in different languages, but its algorithm is slightly less effective than that of Spotify.

Wynk Music

The homegrown music streaming service Wynk Music is another option customers can go for. Available at half the price of the Apple Music subscription (₹49 per month), Wynk Music offers 320Kbps audio quality, along with support for Dolby Atmos enhancement in some titles at no extra cost. It is a freemium app, but even the free users can play music at the highest audio quality. Only the ability to download songs and an ad-free experience are behind the paywall.