- Spotify Price -hiking could come as soon as June
- Typically € 1 (approximately $ 1/£ 1) rises on individual subs
- Leaked photo shows “Additions” to Premium users
You don’t have to ask a magic 8-ball if your favorite music streaming service will increase prices this year: The answer usually seems to be yes. But while Spotify again increases his subscription prices, it doesn’t do so in the US for now.
According to the Financial Times, Spotify claims the cost of an individual subscription by € 1 (about $ 1/£ 1) in countries in Latin America and Europe this summer, probably in June. And these are already increased prices in other countries such as Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Push “would intensify significantly this summer,” an insider told the newspaper.
While Spotify is not planning a price increase in the United States so far-Potify last increased its US award in the 2024-weighing it certainly a super-premium option. It would add $ 6 to the cost of a $ 11 subscription but would come up with additional perks.
When we talk about further perks, the other interesting bit of Spotify News today comes from a leaked image on X showing text in the Spotify iOS Beta app, saying “Explore plans and get more from your premium experience with additions”.
We do not yet know what these additions will be or when these kinds of things will arrive-Potify HiFi affluents have appeared in the app for years and we still haven’t seen that launch yet. But optional additions are an interesting idea that potentially allows people to get more what they really want.
It is worth noting that Spotify already offers “top-ups” to audiobook users as an option you can buy. Premium users get a number of audio -listening hours included in the price and if you want more hours you can buy them.
Why do prices go up again?
The record companies are eager to bring what they call “streaming 2.0” and what I call “charging more money for the things you used to get by default.” E.g. Says FT that an option being considered is to limit new music releases to subscribers who pay for super-premium services.
This is not just for Spotify; FT says Amazon, Apple and YouTube also prepare their own super-premium levels.
The reason for this is pretty simple: the era of massive growth in user numbers is over. Trade body IFPI reports that global revenue growth in the streaming sector halved last year, which means the services are under pressure from shareholders to get more money from their existing users.
We have already seen this play in the video streaming services. What began as a product for a price became much more complicated as streaming their services in with ads, outside-ads and with some ads, with caps on contemporary streams and account sharing and with features such as 4K, HDR and spatial sound limited to the most expensive plans.
It is not a case of whether similar stratification will happen in music. It’s a case of when.
