Spotify confirms price hike as premium plan rises to $10.99/month in the US
Spotify has announced that it’s raising its premium plan prices, confirming reports that first started to surface over the weekend.
The music-streaming giant, which claims some 500 million users globally 40% of which are premium subscribers, revealed that its main premium ad-free subscription plan will be increasing from $9.99 per month to $10.99 in the U.S., while its Duo plan is rising by $2 to $14.99. The family plan, meanwhile, is increasing by $1 to $16.99 and the student plan is also going up by dollar to $5.99 each month.
The subscription hike isn’t limited to the U.S. market, with Spotify confirming that it will be increasing its prices in dozens of markets, including the European Union (EU), the U.K., and chunks of South and Central America, Asia, and Oceania.
The company hasn’t confirmed prices for these markets yet, saying that those affected will start receiving emails from today confirming their new rates. However, it’s likely that customers in the EU will see their prices for the main premium plan increasing by a single euro to €11.99 per month, while U.K. listeners will probably see their premium subscriptions rise by £1 to £10.99 a month.
Earnings
The price increase is notable, insofar as it’s pretty much the first time that Spotify has altered its premium pricing plan since its earliest days, whereas streaming counterparts such as Netflix have regularly updated their pricing tiers.
It’s also worth noting that today’s announcement comes a day before Spotify is due to report its Q2 2023 earnings, with a price-hike one obvious conduit for the Swedish company to increase its revenues in its push toward sustained profitability — and, ultimately, keep its shareholders happy.
Apple also increased its premium subscription from $9.99 to $10.99 last October, so today’s news essentially aligns Spotify with its main music-streaming rival.
Reports surfaced earlier this year that Spotify is working on a new subscription plan that will give users access to higher quality “lossless” music, and is reportedly set to launch in the U.S. later this year with a tentative price of $19.99 per month.
