A Tweet from Cody Kloepfer, and several other sources beginning around the end of last month has revealed that Spotify may be looking to up its game in the music streaming space. The tweeted image presented by Kleopfer is fairly minimal on details, but the gist of Spotify's reportedly incoming Hi-Fi subscription can be gleaned from what little is there. For the cost of $5.00 per month, the image claims, users will have access to 3 new features in addition to all other currently available premium features. The new features will include the ability to stream audio in lossless CD-quality, discounts on limited edition vinyls, and one "free vinyl (record)." Another piece of information to be gleaned from variations within reports themselves is that this likely signifies a test run for Spotify to gauge the reception of various pricing options. While Kloepfer was offered the upgrade at only $5 per month, Mobile Syrup reports that other users are seeing offers at either $7.50 or $10 per month.

Current premium plans from Spotify include, a solo plan, family subscription, and a student discount subscription are also already available at $9.99, $14.99, or $4.99, respectively. Since the image released on Twitter shows Hi-Fi to be an "upgrade," it can be presumed that Hi-Fi will likely be available as an additional add-on over the current cost of a subscription. However, whether the option will be applicable to family plans that are also currently available through the service is an unknown. If Spotify decides to go with a $5 subscription, that would put the total cost at right around $15 per month for at least a solo subscription, though no information yet available regarding whether the add-on might cost more on a family plan. The only certainty is that, with Spotify actively gauging responses related to pricing, they will likely be releasing the Hi-Fi upgrade to the general public almost as soon as they have that costs nailed down.

The apparent price testing comes just days before Spotify announced that it has now hit 50 million paid subscribers. As such – and despite that lossless audio will only make a barely perceptible difference to the average user on standard headphones or using a device with a non-premium DAC – it makes good business sense for the music streaming provider to begin exploring service enhancement options and plans. For audiophiles, at very least, a small extra fee month probably won't seem that all that much to pay for the improvement and may serve to set Spotify apart from the competition.