I Don't Understand Spotify's New Messaging Feature — And Where's My HiFi

(Image credit: Spotify)

Some day I'd like to write about how Spotify has finally released Spotify HiFi, and that hi-res streaming is available to the masses of green circle users. Alas, today is not that day, and instead, I'm left scratching my head at another bizarre Spotify feature that I just don't understand.

Spotify is introducing a messaging service to its app, a move that further positions it as a social media platform, rather than one of the best music streaming services. Most importantly, it's another feature that Spotify claims "users have demanded," while the feature people seem really interested in — Hi-res streaming in Spotify HiFi — remains vaporware.

So what gives, Spotify? What's with this messaging malarkey, and where's my hi-res streaming?

Messaging

You've been able to share music from Spotify for a long time. A quick trip to the burger menu, and a quick link paste into your messenger app of choice and you've shared your questionable music taste with your friends. There are already social features built into the app as well, which let you share playlists with friends, families, and your musical nemesis.

So this messaging thing seems a bit... weird. We've reached out to Spotify for more information about the feature, but here's how it seems to work. Using the share button in the Spotify app, you can now send tracks, albums and playlists to other users directly in the app. You can chat about what you've sent, or, like, anything else you might want to natter about.

Imagine Facebook Messenger, Instagram DMs, TikTok... Wait. Why do we need DMs in Spotify when we've got so many other ways to communicate with our friends and family?

I just don't get it

I can already share my music with my friends, and I'm already inundated with different messaging apps. I don't need another way for people to send me annoying messages. Add in that Spotify is going to give users who like similar music to me the opportunity to send messages and share tracks, and you've a recipe for, in the immortal words of Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor, "a bad time."

And I don't want to be in for a bad time when I go to listen to my music. I'd wager there are plenty like me who often sit down to listen to music distraction-free, without the worry or concern that I'm going to get a DM from a random who wants to share Cradle of Filth's latest album. "I know it's good," I'll say, "I'm already listening to it."

It feels like Spotify moves ever further away from what made it so good in the first place — music streaming. While music still seems to form the core of its experience, the slow morph into a music-based social platform feels strange and forced, and inevitably leads to further price hikes. And we're missing the one thing that's been promised for many years at this point.

Where's my Spotify Hi-Fi?

Spotify HiFi has been promised for many years. It's the feature that I've been waiting for the longest, so I can finally start sharing music with my friends again as they hang on to Spotify, white-knuckling the bizarre extra features and AI intrusions.

Don't get me wrong, I'm so entrenched within Tidal and Qobuz at this point that listening on Spotify, HiFi or not, feels like a step backwards. But it would be huge for making hi-res music more accessible to a wider range of listeners — and that can only be a good thing.

And yet, I have to report again that a new feature that's not HiFi has launched. A feature that feels less useful than a chocolate skillet. Messaging that you effectively have to pay for, as opposed to the numerous free options out there. Spotify, I just don't get it.

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Tammy and her generous collection of headphones have found a new home — Tom's Guide! After a two-and-a-half-year stint as iMore's resident audiophile, Tammy's reviews and buying guide expertise have more focus than ever on Tom's Guide, helping buyers find the audio gear that works best for them. Tammy has worked with some of the most desirable audio brands on the planet in her time writing about headphones, speakers, and more, bringing a consumer focussed approach to critique and buying advice. Away from her desk, you'll probably find her in the countryside writing (extremely bad) poetry, or putting her screenwriting Masters to good use creating screenplays that'll never see the light of day.

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