Apple and Amazon have hit the table this week when it comes to sound quality on their platforms. In the case of Amazon, we find that the company now includes Amazon Music HD for all Music Unlimited subscribers, while Apple Music has done the same with its entire catalog with Apple Music Hi-Fi .
Lossless compression sound has been slowly opening up on the market thanks to platforms like Tidal and Deezer . Amazon released Music HD as an add-on subscription for lossless listening, something Spotify did a few months ago with Spotify HiFi. Now it has been Apple Music that has done the same and has generated a domino effect on other platforms in the industry.
Amazon is a few weeks ahead of Apple
Thus, from June, all Apple Music subscribers will be able to access lossless audio throughout the catalog, as well as Dolby Atmos sound with compatible content. From June there will be 20 million songs in the catalog, and by the end of the year they will reach 75 million .
In the case of Amazon Music HD , the company has been a few weeks ahead of Apple, and from today the service is also available from today at no additional cost. Amazon Music Unlimited costs 9.99 euros per month, with a 3-month free trial. This mode now includes lossless sound for free as a direct response to Apple Music.
What will Spotify do with HiFi?
With this move, both platforms are ahead of the launch of Spotify HiFi . This high-quality sound mode on Spotify, announced in February, is going to reach Premium subscribers in a certain list of countries this year. The launch, in principle, will not be simultaneous in the around 180 countries in which it operates, so some may not even receive the function until the year 2022. Fortunately, in Europe and the United States the new functions usually arrive simultaneously and in the first place.
Spotify did not announce a price for this additional modality, but after the movement of Amazon and Apple, it is expected that the function does not have any additional cost to compete with Apple Music and Amazon Music Unlimited , which cost the same as Spotify: 9.99 euros per month. Amazon Prime subscribers also have the option to subscribe to Music Unlimited for 99.90 euros per year, being able to save the equivalent of two monthly payments. The platform has 70 million CD-quality songs, with 7 million available in “Ultra HD quality.”
Other alternative platforms to Spotify will also be affected by this decision, where Deezer HiFi costs 14.99 euros per month. In the case of Tidal HiFi, its price is even higher, with 19.99 euros per month, with a master quality of up to 9,216 Kbps and Dolby Atmos. Now Apple Music offers that Dolby Atmos quality for half the price, so we’ll probably see price changes on these platforms in the coming weeks.
You can subscribe to Amazon Music Unlimited at this link .
