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 a 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 much of the European Union (EU), the U.K., and chunks of South and Central America, Asia and Oceania.
The company hasn’t communicated prices for these markets yet, saying that those affected will start receiving emails from today confirming their new rates. However, the updated prices have started showing up on their local landing pages. It seems that Eurozone customers are seeing single-euro increases on the individual premium plan, although prices already vary across the region so the new price will depend on where you live — in Finland, for example, it has gone up €1 to €11.99 per month, whereas in France it has risen to €10.99. Germany, on the other hand, seems to be staying the same at €9.99 per month.
In the U.K., premium subscribers will pay an extra £1 at £10.99 a month.
Earnings
The price increase is notable, insofar as it’s the first time that Spotify has altered its main premium pricing plan in many of its core markets, including the U.S. and large parts of Europe, whereas streaming counterparts such as Netflix have regularly updated their pricing tiers through the years.
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, keeping 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.
*This article was updated with clarification around the price increases in Europe.