I think this is both important and interesting news, because for possibly the first time a Hi-Fi manufacturer/dealer will be able to offer customers a turnkey high quality streaming solution using Spotify Connect.
- cd quality streaming at a great price (Assuming USD 10-30 pcm) with no additional hardware or software licensing required e.g. UPnP, Roon
- a great streaming catalog
- a consistently good app experience
- family friendly subscription model
- online and offline listening
- complete freedom to enjoy the music on a great system in the living/listening room, a smart speaker, in the car, or on a phone.
I think this will appeal to a very broad cross section of the market whether they are looking at a high end smart speaker, the fantastic KEF LS50 Wireless II or a wonderfully high-end system from dCS.
Many of us here might want more, like support for legacy content, hi-res, multi-room, sophisticated DSP, better metadata etc… and that’s ok because Roon is great and not going anywhere soon.
Selfishly; I’m a Roon lifetime subscriber, a concern I have is that this move from Spotify will put more pressure on what appears to be a slightly fragile Tidal. For me, integrating a streaming library with my own is a critical part of why I use Roon. I don’t see Spotify or Apple Music coming to Roon any time soon, almost certainly never. I have an Apple Music subscription to fill in Tidal’s gaps and having previously subscribed to Qobuz I know it’s catalog is too small for me. So I feel a bit nervous.