Spotify Premium prices have increased again in the U.S.
Spotify has announced that it has increased the prices of its Premium plans, again. This is not really surprising because most streaming services have raised the costs of their subscriptions in the recent times.
This is the second time Spotify has hiked its price in less than a year. To recap, the music streaming service announced a price increase for its services in July last year. To be fair, it was the first time the price of Spotify Premium had been hiked in 12 years. The Premium subscription, which debuted at $9.99/month in 2011, saw a $1 increase, to $10.99. But now, eleven months later, the company has announced that the prices are going up again.
New Spotify Premium pricing in the U.S.
The new Spotify Premium plan starts at $11.99 for an Individual account. The Spotify Duo Plan now costs $16.99 per month, up from $14.99. The Spotify Family plan, which allows six members in a household to share the subscription, has seen a $3 price increase, up from $16.99 to $19.99. The Spotify Student plan continues to be available for $5.99 a month.
Users will receive an email notifying them about the change in their subscription's prices in the coming month.
An announcement on the company's website says that the prices were increased so Spotify can "continue to invest in and innovate on our product features and bring users the best experience". Spotify had increased the prices in the UK from £10.99 to £11.99 per month, and similarly from AU$12.99 per month to AU$13.99 in Australia. It is unclear whether Spotify will increase its Premium prices in other Countries.
A Bloomberg report says that Spotify increased its prices to cover the costs of audiobook streaming, which was introduced last year. It also hints that Spotify is preparing a new Basic Tier, which will offer music and podcasts, but that plan will not offer the audiobook library. The company is supposedly working on a Supremium Plan which will offer Lossless Audio, something which users have been requesting for a long time.
Interestingly, Spotify only saw about 1.5% of users canceling their subscription in April. Evidently, the company's business seems to be prospering despite the increase in the subscription plans. The streaming service boasted 615 million monthly active users at the end of March this year, of which 239 million were Premium subscribers.
An $11.99 price tag for streaming music seems a little too steep to me. Apple Music and YouTube Music cost $10.99 per month, but it is possible that those prices could go up too.
Now that every streaming service have been increasing their prices, what are some good alternatives for Spotify? Personally, I think Amazon Prime offers the best bang for your buck. It costs $14.99 per month in the U.S. but it gives you access to faster shipping on your orders. You can watch a lot of TV shows and movies on Amazon Prime Video, listen to music via Prime Music, read Kindle books on Prime Reading, claim free PC Games, and you also get some discounts and deals. That's more economical than paying for Netflix + Spotify, at least for my needs.
Do you use Spotify Premium?
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@Herman Cost,
> Actually, it reads like someone who strongly believes in free markets. Which I do.
HAHAAHAHAHAH. Yeah, right.
> If you don’t like what they did, you have plenty of options. One of them, I guess, is whining about it.
Oh shit, company does X and pisses off people so they discuss it openly on a website, this must be whining!!!
I hope the paycheck from Spotify is worth it.
I prefer the physical medium and buy albums when I can and then proceed to rip them when I am able to do so to FLAC but it is entirely possible to go lossy too if I want.
Ripping to a HDD and then deciding if I would like to place them on another medium such as a USB stick, MicroSD card and then insert that on one of my devices, be it a phone, media player or car stereo. It’s also entirely possible to set up something to create your own streaming service through your rips if you cannot or do not want to go through the USB/MicroSD path.
Alternatively there exists other options such as spotube also which is pretty good.
I just use the Android MOD APK with free Premium enabled. Thoae who want to pay are free to pay.
Another streaming service that is putting up its price… what a shock!!
@Herman Cost,
Your whole post reads like a damage control post from the company and an advertisement.
Just my opinion but come on man!
Actually, it reads like someone who strongly believes in free markets. Which I do.
If you don’t like what they did, you have plenty of options. One of them, I guess, is whining about it.
I still do it th’ barnacle-covered-fashioned way, with mp3. There be no need t’ worry about th’ shanty disappearin’, no need t’ waste bandwidth, and th’ shanty may be played at any time even offline. Streamin’ be solely useful fer discovery. These streamin’ companies can walk th’ plank with their price increases!
I love my mp3 files. They play anywhere, no questions asked, songs never disappear from my catalog, and the price to listen to them never goes up. Also you can fit more than you would ever want to listen to on a $20 memory card. Commercial interruptions? what are those?
It’s frankly stunning that the industry has been able to hook consumers on this subscription BS.
Same here. I’m not even ashamed, I bought the vinyls and cassettes in the 80’s, I bought the cd’s after that. I went to hundreds of gigs, bought hundreds of T-shirts. Spent a small fortune. A snowballs chance in Hell I’m gonna pay for the same albums again.
I bailed on Spotify years ago when they tried to force Podcasts to mix with songs. I don’t listen to Podcasts, so that was actually an interference. I’m glad I made the decision to hop over to Apple Music at that time. Even the Apple Music recommendations are much better than Spotify ever was.
Great news–keep those hikes coming without disgruntled subscribers:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/huge-news-spotify-stock-130000524.html
Yep, every time news like this is posted, SPOT prices jump.
Do I subscribe to Spotify? Heavens no!
You would think they could afford to implement 2FA by now.
If you’re gonna screw musicians over, then don’t give your money to a thief in Sweden. Real thieves spend zero dollars. This alternative here is even sweeter, it leaves GOOGLE without money: https://f-droid.org/packages/com.zionhuang.music/
Go to gigs, buy a T-shirt or buy your favorite kazoo player a beer. It keeps music alive.
Nothing like being a zombie to a corporation’s wims.
Private businesses have the option of setting their prices as they see fit, and consumers have the option of agreeing to the price or looking elsewhere. Spotify is actually the only internet service I pay for and I do so because they have a truly great selection of music in various rather arcane categories that interest me. As I listen to music on a daily basis, it is well worth $11.99 a month to me, so I’ll pay the extra dollar.
I’m not sure why that makes me a zombie.
There does seem to be a certain group of people who write comments here who either are or pretend to be absolutely outraged whenever a company raises its prices. It must be a woke thing.
FYI. Spotify is a public corporation, not a private business.
Here’s another example of a commenter who becomes agitated when they feel slighted, although he was not addressed directly.
A comment is a comment is a comment.
Word of advice, don’t take comments personally.
They can increase the price, and you always have the option to not pay anymore.
Thanks @Ashwin for this article! :]