Spotify is introducing a new Premium Platinum level of service in five markets that offers lossless audio and advanced AI features, the music streaming company’s biggest paid upgrade to date. The release covers India, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and South Africa, launching alongside revamped Premium Lite and Premium Standard offerings.
The move provides listeners in these markets with the first official means to stream losslessly on Spotify, and also reshapes how account sharing, offline listening and various tiers of audio quality are packaged and priced.
What Premium Platinum includes: lossless audio and AI
Premium Platinum offers access to Spotify’s recently debuted Lossless tier on compatible tracks—introducing bit-perfect streaming for the first time in Premium markets. There are still only three seats for each subscription, whereas account sharing was basically limited to Duo or Family plans in most regions.
Platinum comes with Spotify’s AI DJ, a smart companion that performs spoken editorial content and context-aware request handling as you listen, as well as playlist creation tools powered by machine learning. For creators and non-pros, it will further give access to integrations with DJ software like rekordbox, Serato and Algoriddim’s djay to import libraries and create mixes using streaming catalogs.
Pricing and availability for Lite, Standard and Platinum
Spotify will offer a three-tier differentiation: Premium Lite with ad-free music at 160 kbps, Premium Standard with offline download support at 320 kbps, and Premium Platinum featuring lossless access and multi-seat sharing.
In India, the company is pricing Lite at ₹139 per month, Standard at ₹199, and Platinum at ₹299. Current subscribers will be automatically rolled over, but new sign-ups no longer have the option for the old Duo or Family plans; instead, there’s a Platinum tier as the sharing option with three seats maximum.
Spotify says that Premium customers currently see tracks available in 24-bit/44.1 kHz FLAC—where supported—in over 50 countries, though this is the first time the company has officially confirmed the feature.
The Platinum plan officially offers lossless access in the five launch markets and marries it with enough features that might make the higher cost worth it, especially for families or superfans.
How Spotify’s Platinum compares with Apple, Amazon and Tidal
Competitors have raised the bar. (Though Apple Music threw in lossless and high-res audio for free, Amazon Music made its HD tier standard, and Tidal is still wooing audiophiles with lossless and immersive formats.) Spotify’s response is to bundle lossless with some AI listening and DJ integrations, as well as a three-seat plan in hopes of generating perceived value.
Audiophiles will look at pesky details: the extent of catalog coverage, ceilings on bit depth and sample rate, and devices supported as much as that “lossless” label. For mainstream listeners, the AI DJ and one-click playlist generation may turn out to be the bigger draw (such features offer increased discovery and stickiness without needing components that only enthusiasts will have).
Plan changes and how these updates impact the customer
Spotify is moving sharing to a more premium slot with the retiring Duo and Family for new sign-ups. In India, the new structure increases what people pay for offline listening and account sharing, so that users who don’t care about lossless or AI perks will have fewer low-cost options than before.
The approach mirrors recent price changes elsewhere. In the last two years, Spotify has taken U.S. single pricing from $9.99 to $11.99 in two separate $1 jumps, a signal that it’s using tiering and feature bundles as a strategy for driving higher average revenue per user while segmenting by need.
Why this launch matters for Spotify and streaming listeners
For Spotify, lossless was a long-requested checkbox to tick off, particularly when competitors made high-fidelity table stakes. Taking it to price-sensitive, high-growth regions with AI and creator-friendly features is an educated bet: Take Premium’s experience up a notch, nudge people toward upgrades and win both the casual listener and power user.
The emphasis on India, Indonesia, the UAE and Saudi Arabia as well as South Africa illustrates the platform marketing its way into a space where mobile-first listening, prepaid billing and family sharing drive adoption. Trade bodies such as IFPI have pinpointed subscription streaming as the power behind recorded music growth; a more discerning top tier widens Spotify’s playing room within this momentum.
The open question is conversion. If Platinum’s combination of lossless, AI and three-seat sharing proves sticky, Spotify may be able to boost ARPU without sacrificing scale. If it doesn’t, the pressure will increase to expand lossless access further down the stack. Either way, listeners in five test markets are receiving a fuller, more forward-looking version of Spotify’s premium offering.
