Music may be about art and not competition, but the same cannot be said for music streaming services. The contest between market leaders like Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal is a fierce one. Having always been subscribed to Spotify, the service's latest price hike has me considering switching sides.
Spotify has announced that after a one-month grace period, its standard subscription prices will rise from £9.99/$9.99 to £10.99/$10.99. In fairness that's not a massive increase but significantly, it brings it level with Apple Music and Tidal , which is also increasing its price to £10.99/$10.99.
I love Spotify, It has all my playlists and I think its algorithm is rock solid when it comes to recommending new music, but it has had me on the hook for a long time with a promise that still hasn't come true. Hi-fi audio. There have been recent noises that it's set to arrive this year, but it's gone a bit quiet on that front, so until it's in my ears I'm sceptical.
Apple Music and Tidal both offer superior sound quality with their £10.99 subscriptions, known as lossless audio. Talk of Spotify's equivalent costing more than a standard subscription as part of a "Superpremium" plan that came with a few extra perks like audiobooks initially seemed fair enough but with the price now matching competitors, I'm expecting it as part of the standard subscription. If it's not, I'll likely be taking my ears elsewhere.
Of course, there are reasons to stick with Spotify. Its AI DJ feature is pretty nifty and the recent home screen redesign is pretty intuitive. It's also where most of my friends share their playlists. Apple Music also doesn't have a free plan so users should definitely consider that when deciding to switch.
Most of all I really don't want to have to save all the songs I love over again but to get the most out of the best headphones I'll soldier through it. I want to use Spotify, but unless we get a hi-fi tier soon and at a fair price, it will be hard to stay.
