Photo credit: Spotify
Two months ago, following price increases from Amazon Music and Apple Music, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek indicated that he intended to increase the cost of his platform’s subscriptions. Now the Stockholm-based company is reportedly preparing to launch a more expensive tier (complete with Spotify HiFi) known internally as the “Supremium”.
The news of Spotify’s Supremium offering was published in a report by Bloomberg; At the time of writing, the streaming giant had yet to officially announce the plan, nor did it give an exact launch date. Additionally, a Spotify spokesperson clarified in a statement that “we are not commenting on speculation about potential new features and have nothing new to share at this time.”
However, according to the mentioned outlet, Supremium is ready to embrace the long-awaited Spotify HiFi, which was first announced back in 2021. While the other components and prices of the advanced pack are yet to be seen, it will still be some time before fans in the US find out if the tier is worth it.
That’s because, while Supremium is slated to launch later “this year,” it says it will “reach markets outside the US first,” according to the statement. Bloomberg. To give a treat to the more than 210 million subscribers behind its current $9.99 per month (in America) paid plan, Findaway owner Spotify reportedly intends to give them “expanded access to audiobooks.” grant that the service officially added in September of 2022.
Expanded access to audiobooks — it’s unclear exactly how much traction the media has found on the platform, given the high per-title prices and the availability of free audiobook apps — will include “a certain number of free hours per month,” according to the same source or a certain number of tracks.” After launching in international markets, the boosted stage is expected to be available to listeners in the US in October, the report shows.
Supremium and the revamped Premium package represent the latest in a series of steps Spotify has taken to reduce costs and increase revenue.
In the last month alone, for example, the company laid off about 200 podcasting employees, shut down Meghan Markle’s podcast, and sold back the Soundtrap digital audio workstation to its founders. However, those cost-cutting efforts haven’t been accompanied by a total freeze on podcast hiring at Spotify, whose stock price has nearly doubled since the start of 2023.
Of course, the company previously posted a job listing for a podcasting copywriter, and recently identified vacancies on LinkedIn include a position as a senior manager on the podcast FP&A team, a podcast senior machine learning engineer, and a podcast staff engineer (who, according to the listing, will save a whopping $185,000 to $265,000 per year.
Beyond the podcast side, Spotify wants a “leader of hip-hop and R&B artist partnerships” (who, according to the text, will make between $143,000 and $205,000 per year) and, amid the unprecedented spread of artificial intelligence, an advocate for Set Platform Adhesion. The latter professional will “advise on Spotify’s global compliance with platform liability frameworks and copyright protection laws (e.g. Section 230; Digital Services Act, DMCA).”