Spotify may finally be ready to debut a premium HiFi audio tier

Rumors about a Spotify HiFi tier have been around since at least 2017, and the company even announced plans to launch such a feature in 2021 — only to back off the next year. Now, the company may finally be ready to launch a high-fidelity plan (dubbed "Supremium" internally) that would be its most expensive tier, according to Bloomberg. The aim would be to drive more revenue and address investor demands that it raise its prices. Spotify reportedly delayed rolling out the plan back in 2021 as two of its primary rivals, Apple Music and Amazon Music, started including the feature for no charge in their standard plans. In addition, Spotify may enhance its regular Premium offering with expanded audiobook access, either through a certain number of free hours per month or a specific number of books (with an option to purchase more). Audiobooks are currently only available on Spotify via individual purchases. There's no word on whether audio would be lossless at up to 24-bit and 192kHz, as it is on Apple Music and Amazon Music. Lossless audio generally doesn't work on Bluetooth speakers or headphones (including Apple's AirPods and AirPods Max), due to the high bandwidth, so users need a wired or WiFi setup.Pricing hasn't been revealed, either. Spotify has kept its Premium plan at $9.99/month in the US, unlike Apple and Amazon, which raised their rates to $10.99. CEO Daniel Ek said in a recent earnings call that the company tries to balance subscriber growth with revenue, so... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2023-06-20 12:38:47 UTC ]
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Barack Obama's Memoir Is Finally Here — At Least The First Part Of It

"A Promised Land," to be released Nov. 17, weighs in at a whopping 768 pages. Obama said it's "a fun and informative read." Continue reading at HuffPost

[ HuffPost | 2020-09-17 12:30:43 UTC ]
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'Major' literary debut The Hollow Sea to Michael Joseph

Michael Joseph has acquired The Hollow Sea by Annie Kirby, a literary debut about grief, recovery, and identity, set to be a lead hardback for 2022. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-17 11:44:41 UTC ]
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Viking snaps up 'riveting' historical fiction debut

Viking has acquired a historical debut by Annie Garthwaite, reimagining the story of Cecily Neville, the Duchess of York and mother to two kings of England—Edward IV and Richard III. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-16 20:07:38 UTC ]
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Sceptre pre-empts 'intoxicating' debut thriller

Francine Toon, commissioning editor at Hodder & Stoughton imprint Sceptre, has pre-empted the debut novel Other People’s Clothes by Berlin-based American writer Calla Henkel. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-16 15:05:05 UTC ]
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Sphere bags debut Breaking Point at auction

Sphere has announced Irish journalist Edel Coffey’s debut novel, Breaking Point, will be a superlead for the publisher in 2022, following a multi-publisher auction and six-figure deal. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-16 14:51:31 UTC ]
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Story of ‘bloodthirsty unicorns’ brings debut author record publishing deal

Annabel Steadman’s fantasy series Skandar and the Unicorn Thief has won a seven-figure book contract, with film rights also sold to Sony PicturesA 28-year-old first-time author from Canterbury has landed what is believed to be the world’s largest ever book advance for a debut children’s writer,... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-09-16 13:34:54 UTC ]
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Zaffre to publish 'dark and twisted' debut thriller The Art of Death

Bonnier Books UK has acquired an "intensely creepy" serial killer thriller debut, The Art of Death by David Fennell, to publish under the Zaffre imprint in February 2021. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-16 05:09:04 UTC ]
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Bloomsbury wins auction for Lockwood's 'miraculous' debut novel

Bloomsbury is to publish Patricia Lockwood's first novel No One Is Talking About This, after winning a 10-way auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-16 02:57:52 UTC ]
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'The end of an innocent world': An oral history of the first National Book Festival, which debuted three days before 9/11

Ahead of the 20th National Book Festival, Laura Bush, Scott Turow, Michael Beschloss and others look back at the event’s storied beginning. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-09-15 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Booker Prize Shortlist Highlights Debuts, Women, Indies

Six titles made the shortlist for this year's Booker Prize for Fiction, of which four are debuts. The list is also notably diverse, with four female finalists and four titles coming from independent publishers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-09-15 04:00:00 UTC ]
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S&S Children's wins debut fantasy series in 'momentous' seven-figure deal

Simon & Schuster Children's UK and US have won a hotly contested multi-publisher auction for debut author A F Steadman's fantasy adventure series, Skandar and the Unicorn Thief, in a seven-figure (sterling) co-publication deal. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-14 04:30:23 UTC ]
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Alka Joshi on the Surprise of Becoming a Debut Novelist at 62

Alka Joshi’s debut novel, The Henna Artist, is taking the literary world by storm. On The Literary Life, she talks with Mitchell Kaplan about the small leap from writing ad copy to writing a novel, how both her mother and mother-in-law informed her protagonist, and the joy she’s deriving from... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2020-09-11 08:47:09 UTC ]
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Templar Books to publish cartoonist Tom Gauld's debut picture book

Bonnier Books UK's Templar imprint has acquired cartoonist Tom Gauld's first picture book, The Little Wooden Robot and the Log Princess. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-11 04:10:24 UTC ]
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Are You Ready to Stand in the Gap?

PW columnist Nicole A. Cooke on ways to turn antiracist knowledge and education into action. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-09-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Duckworth Books snaps up former 'Big Brother' contestant's debut

Duckworth Books has acquired 2016 "Big Brother" finalist A J West's debut novel, The Spirit Engineer. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-10 15:40:49 UTC ]
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An Award-Winning Debut Novel About Innocence Shattered Offers Terror and Solace

“The Discomfort of Evening,” by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, winner of this year’s International Book Prize, is about strictly religious dairy farmers mourning a son’s death. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-09-08 16:16:33 UTC ]
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Doubleday wins nine-way auction for Anglo-Nigerian writer's debut

Doubleday has acquired two novels by Anglo-Nigerian writer Nikki May in a "hotly contested" nine-way auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-07 17:57:58 UTC ]
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Gollancz acquires debut fantasy trilogy

Gollancz has acquired J T Greathouse’s debut fantasy trilogy, which will open with The Hand of the Sun King in 2021. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-07 10:46:05 UTC ]
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Oliver scoops RNA award for romance debut

Melissa Oliver has won the Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA) Joan Hessayon Award for new writers with her debut The Rebel Heiress and the Knight (Mills & Boon Historical). Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-07 08:45:29 UTC ]
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