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# High-Res Streaming May Be Getting Closer
- URL: https://www.hypebot.com/high-res-streaming-may-be-getting-closer/
- Published: 2017-01-13T10:10:00.000Z
- Updated: 2017-01-13T10:10:00.000Z
- Description: Long awaited by many, it appears as though high-resolution streaming could soon become an industry reality, with the three major labels and several prominent streaming companies announce their support for. Continue reading [https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2017/01/high-res-streaming-may-be-getting-cl
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Music Business, Music Tech, Streaming, music, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-01-21 10:13

[![Hi-res-music-logo-300x300](http://hypebot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b36c69e201b7c8c7790a970b-150wi "Hi-res-music-logo-300x300")](http://hypebot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b36c69e201b7c8c7790a970b-popup?ref=hypebot.com)Long awaited by many, it appears as though high-resolution streaming could soon become an industry reality, with the three major labels and several prominent streaming companies announce their support for a new higher quality format.

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Guest Post by **Bobby Owsinski** on [Music 3.0](http://music3point0.com/2017/01/12/high-resolution-streaming/?ref=hypebot.com)I’ve been predicting for over a year that the streaming world would eventually move to high-resolution audio, and a [recent announcement](http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/7647490/all-three-major-labels-pandora-and-riaa-announce-support-for-hi-res-audio?ref=hypebot.com) from a group of large industry players makes it look like things are finally moving in the right direction. All 3 major labels, **Pandora**, **Rhapsody/Napster, HD Trax** and the **RIAA** announced their support for the high-quality format through the **Digital Entertainment Group (DEG)**, an industry association dedicated to hi-res releases. Interestingly, **Apple Music** and **Spotify** were absent from the announcement.While the DEG didn’t specify exactly what “hi-res” meant, Apple has been collecting high-resolution masters for its **Mastered For iTunes** program for the last 4 years. Although Apple would prefer masters at a 96kHz/24 bit resolution, it considers any master that’s 24 bit to be hi-res, regardless of the sample rate. [![Download](http://hypebot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b36c69e201b8d2514f8e970c-320wi "Download")](http://hypebot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b36c69e201b8d2514f8e970c-popup?ref=hypebot.com)Since Apple has been at the forefront in collecting high quality masters, it would stand to reason that Apple Music would have no problem implementing a new hi-res tier. There’s been no hint of that, however, although the company is notoriously tight-lipped about new developments. Spotify doesn’t seem to want to go that route yet, having enough trouble getting people to buy up to the $9.99 per month paid subscription tier, although it does have 41 million current subscribers, about twice that of its nearest competitor Apple Music.**Tidal** and **Deezer** both have hi-res tiers, but neither has made much of a impact on music consumers. That said, there are numerous online services like HD Trax that specialize in 96/24 and higher products available for download at a premium price. These are more for the audiophile sector, however, and don’t get much traction from mainstream consumers.That said, the natural progression is to high-resolution streaming, and all services will eventually go that way (you’ve heard it here first). I predict that what we’ll eventually see is the standard subscription tier at $4.99-5.99, and the hi-res premium tier at $9.99 per month. That’s not going to happen soon though, but 5 years from now there’s a good chance that it will be the norm when it comes to streaming.

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