Music streaming giant Spotify has officially increased the price of its flagship Premium subscription in the US to $10.99.
The company announced the new pricing in a blog post on Monday morning (July 24), in which it confirmed that “we are changing our Premium prices across a number of markets around the world”.
It added: “These updates will help us continue to deliver value to fans and artists on our platform.”
Spotify’s decision to finally raise its standard $9.99 per month individual subscription price in the US, starting Monday (July 24), follows widespread calls to do so from multiple music industry leaders.
In addition to the US, Spotify will be increasing its Premium pricing in around 50 other markets globally, such as Canada, as well as several markets across Europe, including the UK and France, plus markets in Asia, South America, and Australasia. The price increases start today (July 24).
In SPOT’s FAQ section about its pricing, the company states that, “we occasionally update our prices as we continue to innovate and invest in giving you better listening experiences and more value than ever before”.
It adds: “We may also adjust our prices to reflect local factors and meet market demands while offering an unparalleled service to listeners.”
Spotify says that existing Premium subscribers will be “given a one-month grace period before the new price becomes effective, unless they cancel before the grace period ends”.
The confirmation of the price hike follows an article from the Wall Street Journal over the weekend reporting that SPOT was planning to make an announcement about the change this week.
SPOT’s pricing update follows similar moves by other music streaming services, including YouTube. We learned just last week that prices for the platform’s YouTube Music and YouTube Premium services have gone up in the United States.
In the US, Spotify’s flagship Premium subscription is going up by $1 to $10.99 (see below). Premium Duo will now cost $14.99 (up from $12.99). Premium Family now costs $16.99 (up from $15.99), while Spotify Premium Student costs $5.99 per month (up from $4.99).
Spotify originally increased the monthly price of its Premium Family tier in the US from $14.99 to $15.99 in 2021. SPOT also raised prices for its Premium Duo, Premium Family and Student plans in the UK and Europe in 2021.
Figures recently revealed by the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) suggested that Spotify counted 44.4 million paying subscribers in the United States as of the end of February.
The NMPA figures also suggested Apple Music had 32.6 million US-based subscribers, with Amazon Music on 29.3 million.
According to the new blog post published by Spotify, in addition to the US, the markets where the platform will be increasing its Premium prices starting Monday (July 24), are as follows:
Andorra, Albania, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, United Kingdom, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Croatia, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Peru, Portugal, Serbia, Sweden, Singapore, Slovenia, Slovakia, San Marino, Thailand, Türkiye, United States, Kosovo.
In the UK, Spotify’s flagship Premium subscription is going up by £1 to £10.99. In France, Spotify’s flagship Premium subscription now costs €10.99.
The price tag for Spotify’s Premium Single tier now brings it in line with the pricing of rival services.
Elsewhere in the music streaming business, in Q4 last year, Spotify rival Apple Music announced that it was upping its standard monthly subscription price from USD $9.99 to $10.99 in the US, and GBP £9.99 to £10.99 in the UK. It also increased the price of its Family Plan in both territories.
In January this year, Amazon Music made a similar move, confirming to customers that, like Apple, it would be raising its standard individual Amazon Music Unlimited monthly subscription price from $9.99 to $10.99 in the US, and from £9.99 to £10.99 in the UK.
Amazon Music also upped its Amazon Music Unlimited Student Plan from $/£4.99 to $/£5.99 per month in each respective territory.
Additionally, Amazon Music increased equivalent pricing in Germany and Japan.
(Those price rises were for non-Amazon Prime members. Amazon Music subscription prices for Prime members increased in May last year: In the US, Prime members who subscribed to an individual Amazon Music Unlimited account started paying $8.99 per month rather than $7.99 per month, or $89 rather than $79 per year. There was also a bump in the price of the standard Amazon Music Family Plan in 2022, which rose from $14.99 monthly in the States to $15.99.)
Earlier this month, Tidal confirmed to MBW that it is updating the monthly subscription price in all 61 markets where TIDAL HiFi and HiFi Family tiers are available.
In the US, the new price starting August 1 will be $10.99 for TIDAL HiFi and $16.99 for TIDAL HiFi Family. A similar adjustment in local currency will be introduced in all markets.Music Business Worldwide
