Spotify HiFi is still M.I.A. while Apple Music subscribers enjoy Lossless Audio for free

Apple Music delivered industry-leading sound quality to subscribers with the addition of high quality Lossless Audio and Spatial Audio with support for Dolby Atmos in June 2021 at no additional cost.
Spotify HiFi is M.I.A.
“Spotify HiFi,” first announced by the company in February is still M.I.A., perhaps because Spotify intended on charging extra for it until the learned of Apple’s plan to provide Lossless Audio and Spatial Audio to subscribers for free.
Chris Welch for The Verge:

Spotify HiFi, first announced all the way back in February, has yet to roll out despite the company’s early estimate that it would debut “later this year.” At the time, Spotify said HiFi would be available in select markets and that the company would “have more details to share soon.”
Over the next 10 months, those details never came.
Meanwhile, Spotify’s competitors didn’t wait around. Apple Music rolled out lossless and hi-res playback in June, offering the improved audio quality at no extra charge.
It’s possible that Spotify has had second thoughts about launching the feature — or at least is no longer in a rush to deliver it… There’s no longer any financial incentive. Apple has essentially forced Spotify’s hand to offer CD-quality streaming without wringing more money from customers. And if it’s not contributing to the bottom line, what’s the point? There’s also the possibility that Spotify ran into a legal quagmire in trying to update its music deals for HiFi.
Spotify has yet to confirm whether it too will offer Atmos tracks — or even hi-res audio that exceeds 16-bit/44.1kHz.

MacDailyNews Take: Oh, to have been a fly on the wall at Spotify* on May 17, 2021 when Apple Music, already No.1 in America (the world’s No.1 music market), announced the launch of Lossless Audio and Spatial Audio for free!
*and survived the objects we imagine were thrown.
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