Spotify Raises Prices for Second Time in 12 Months, Now More Expensive Than Apple Music

[MacRumors]

Spotify today announced that it is increasing Premium plan pricing in the United States in order to "bring users the best experience."

The Individual Premium plan is now priced at $11.99, up from $10.99. Duo is priced at $16.99 (up $2), Family is priced at $19.99 (up $3), and Student is priced at $5.99 (no change).

This is actually the second time Spotify has raised prices in the last 12 months. In July 2023, the Premium plan price went from $9.99 to $10.99, so there has been a 20 percent increase in the last year. Prior to the July 2023 increase, Duo was priced at $12.99 and the Family plan was priced at $15.99, marking a 31 percent total increase for Duo and a 25 percent increase for Family after the 2024 price hikes.

Spotify subscribers will soon be seeing emails notifying them of the upcoming price increase. Emails will include instructions on how to cancel a Premium subscription.

On Spotify, users discover and enjoy music, podcasts, and audiobooks. So that we can continue to invest in and innovate on our product features and bring users the best experience, we occasionally update our prices. Over the next month, subscribers in the U.S. will receive an email explaining what this update means for their subscription.

At $11.99 and $19.99, respectively, the Spotify Premium and Family plans are now more expensive than the equivalent Apple Music plans. Apple's Individual plan is priced at $10.99 per month, while the Family plan is priced at $16.99 per month.

Article Link: Spotify Raises Prices for Second Time in 12 Months, Now More Expensive Than Apple Music

 

[truthsteve]

and none of that is going towards artists.

pay up Spotify. get up to Apple Music standards.

 

[iObama]

AM increase coming in 3...2...

 

[seanmcbay]

I just use YouTube for music since a lot of weird stuff I like to listen to isn’t on either service. I do prefer AM to Spotify if I had to pick though.

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

These guys! Would leave but all the other service seem like a mess in one way or another.

Also shove your audiobooks and podcasts. The kids just want the music 🤌

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

and none of that is going towards artists.

pay up Spotify. get up to Apple Music standards.

Apparently you're crying a river for no one because the artists aren't leaving Spotify.

 

[q64ceo]

Spotify is good at its free tier. No need to pay for Premium when Premium has few benefits over free.

 

[boss.king]

and none of that is going towards artists.

pay up Spotify. get up to Apple Music standards.

I'd argue that both Apple and Spotify should be shooting for where Tidal is or beyond. Apple especially can easily afford to be the highest paying.

 

[DEMinSoCAL]

WOW...up a buck. Funny how much people spend going out to eat/drink for a couple hours and don't think twice about it but bitch about $1 increase for listening to music for a whole month.

 

[jayducharme]

and none of that is going towards artists.

pay up Spotify. get up to Apple Music standards.

While Apple Music does pay slightly more than Spotify, it's still a drop in the ocean. None of the streaming services pay much to the artist, usually hundredths of a cent for each stream. So where is all the rest of the money going? Who knows? That's why artists who want to make a living at music have to tour. These days, it's the only way to make a living wage (unless you have the sales of Taylor Swift or Adele).

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

I'd argue that both Apple and Spotify should be shooting for where Tidal is or beyond. Apple especially can easily afford to be the highest paying.

Makes me laugh when people laud Apple, one of the richest corporations in history, for paying musicians half a penny more than companies that are one twentieth of their size.

 

[ht5pilot]

And still no hifi. Boo on Spotify.

 

[Circa1984]

Do the right thing Apple, and freeze your pricing, Don’t increase along with Spotify.

 

[easy4lif]

Again, Spotify produces nothing and is DEEP debt. I thought they could go the Netflix route and produce some music themselves, but the big three music groups actually have it in musicians contracts against this.


always remember that the lawsuits against Apple aren’t for “freedom” or to break a monopoly. It’s about money, the corporations suing have no other way to increase profits other then lowering Apples fees or raising prices, and today Spotify chose the latter.

But no worries, when they finally get those fees lowers, I’m sure we’ll all see an 18% lowering of prices right? right???

 

[MacTiki]

AM increase coming in 3...2...

Oops. You meant Apple Music and not Amazon Music.

Amazon will start injecting two ads after every three songs and every fifth song they will promote Amazon Music Prime+ which will eliminate ads for the low additional cost of $2.99 a month.

 

[Populus]

AM increase coming in 3...2...

Yeah, that was my worry as well… especially now that I’m subscribed to Apple Music for almost a year and enjoying the service.

 

[MacTiki]

So where is all the rest of the money going?

The Apples campus, Apple stores, cash in their bank accounts, the executive pay packages, salaries, etc….

 

[macvicta]

WOW...up a buck. Funny how much people spend going out to eat/drink for a couple hours and don't think twice about it but bitch about $1 increase for listening to music for a whole month.

Actually it’s up two bucks in less than a year. That’s quite a hefty increase.

And it’s only going up from there.

 

[Abazigal]

WOW...up a buck. Funny how much people spend going out to eat/drink for a couple hours and don't think twice about it but bitch about $1 increase for listening to music for a whole month.

At this point, why are you all still paying for Spotify?

1) They pay amongst the worst rates in the industry.

2) Apple Music offers more features like spatial / lossless audio and has its own classical music app, plus it's better integrated with Apple devices.

3) They are flushing money down the toilet via numerous questionable business decisions, from their free tier (a loss leader) to their foray into advertising to bankrolling controversial figures like Joe Rogan.

4) The Spotify app has now become a catch-all for services including podcasts and audiobooks, meaning users who don't care for them are essentially subsidising these services for those who do. Contrast this with the Apple Music app, which remains focused on streaming and nothing else.

If I were Apple, I would stick with their current pricing, and slowly starve Spotify out.

 

[frenchcamp49er]

Why does anyone pay for this extremely poor service.

 

[iObama]

Oops. You meant Apple Music and not Amazon Music.

Amazon will start injecting two ads after every three songs and every fifth song they will promote Amazon Music Prime+ which will eliminate ads for the low additional cost of $2.99 a month.

No oops AM is a pretty common abbreviation in the Apple Music subreddit.

 

[Docsta80]

I'd argue that both Apple and Spotify should be shooting for where Tidal is or beyond. Apple especially can easily afford to be the highest paying.

Forgive my ignorance but is Tidal better or higher quality than both?

 

[cjsuk]

Spotify trying desperately to cut their insane losses. What was it? 532 million euros in 2023.

At some point someone is going to pull the plug.

 

[boss.king]

Forgive my ignorance but is Tidal better or higher quality than both?

Do you mean in terms of pay or audio fidelity? I'm no audiophile but I believe Tidal offers at least as high fidelity streaming as Apple Music, if not higher. In terms of payment per stream for artists, I think they offer roughly double what Apple does.

 

[sw1tcher]

and none of that is going towards artists.

pay up Spotify. get up to Apple Music standards.

When the topic of discussion here is about iPhone users wanting to be able to sideload apps on their iPhones, your response is that if they don't like the way things are, they can go create their own smartphone and app store, or buy and Android phone.

Well, if artists feel they're not being paid enough (technically, Spotify pays the labels who in turn pay the artists based on an agreed upon licensing contact), why aren't you telling the artists to go create their own streaming service or only make their music available on a service that will pay them better?

Just like how Apple is not a charity and are in the business to make money, so too is Spotify. Why the double standard? Why should Spotify pay more than they need to?