Spotify follows a trend of subscription services that are raising their monthly prices. The ad-free version of the music streaming service will now cost new users an additional $1 per month, pulling the total price to $10.99 and keeping it in line with competitors like YouTube Music, which has also just increased its prices.
Since the service’s debut in 2011, this is the first time the fee has been raised. Beginning next month, existing members will be charged the higher rate.
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As far back as we can recall, Spotify’s personal Premium subscription has cost $9.99 per month. The total price for a family of four to add a couple members was $15.99. That price structure was influential in establishing a norm for music and other digital content subscription services. It appears like things are changing at this time, which is to be expected given the wave’s pattern of movement.
Two additional Spotify Premium subscription tiers will also see a $1 increase. The premium family plan, which allows six people living in the same household to share a subscription, will cost $16.99 per month, while the student plan will increase to $5.99 per month. Most noticeable is a $2 rise (from $12.99 to $14.99) for the dual plan, which is designed for households with more than one person but not necessarily spouses.
The basic, free plan of the service still has the same restrictions and advertising as before.
Spotify’s new monthly pricing of $10.99 is in concurrence with recent price increases by peers including Apple Music, Google Play Music, and Amazon Music.
The trend of subscription price increases
Recent updates to the service include a home feed inspired by TikTok and a redesign inspired by Barbie, but these improvements hardly seem substantial enough to justify an increase of $1 per month for Spotify Premium, which many customers may find to be excessively expensive.
Not only has Spotify seen this shift in recent months, but so have many other services. In an eerily identical move, YouTube Music Premium increased by $1, from $9.99 per month. The YouTube-powered music streaming service has increased its monthly fee to $10.99, allowing customers to listen to any song in its vast catalog.
Subscription price increases at major companies like Apple, Amazon, YouTube, and others may be partially justified by general price escalation. But even if costs decline in the future, it’s doubtful that services like Spotify and YouTube would decrease pricing for consumers. The new Spotify Premium starting price of $10.99 is expected to become the new standard.
Spotify dominates the international market for music streaming services. Apple Music and Amazon Music follow closely behind. If we narrow our focus to only the United States, however, Apple Music moves up to the first place.