Audio streaming giant Spotify is set to raise the price of its Premium streaming service again. The company most recently raised its prices in July 2023.
The cost of a Spotify Premium account was $9.99 for over ten years before 2023, when the price changed to $10.99. Prices raised on all of Spotify's paid account services. Duo accounts, which allows two users to share an account; family accounts, with which multiple users in the same household can share an account; and student accounts, which gives high school and college students a discounted rate, all saw monthly costs shoot up by at least one dollar.
The rising costs of non-Basic Spotify subscriptions comes with the addition of audiobooks to the platform. In October 2023, the service declared that the addition of audiobooks will help to make Spotify "the seamless one-stop destination for all things audio." Now, Spotify, which boasts over 600 million users, is the second largest provider of audiobooks, per a Q4 earnings report in 2023.
The company originally added audiobooks in 2022. However, the service only began to truly hone its focus on audiobooks in November 2023. Premium subscribers are given 15 hours of listening per month. There are currently more than 150,000 titles available on Spotify for Premium users to access without additional spending. It's worth noting that the average audiobook is ten hours long. Beyond these free listening hours, users also have the option to purchase from a selection of over 375,000 books.
Bloomberg reported that Spotify plans to raise its prices soon. Though a set price has yet to be announced, people "familiar with the matter" are causing rumors to swirl that prices will increase "by about $1 to $2 a month." These increases are set to arrive in some territories by the end of April.
Responding to the announcement, via the Verge, netizens reacted with less-than happy attitudes toward Spotify. One disgruntled commenter wrote: "Having to pay a double premium to get what Apple and Amazon already offer for their entry level plans (Spatial, Hi Res, and Lossless audio) does not seem like that great of a deal."
One user shared their experience with the platform and their hopes for the company: "The 2-person plan has been great as we use music, podcasts, and now audiobooks." However, they added that, "The price is getting too close to the Apple family bundle. I really hope they add HiFi with this update. I really want Spotify to succeed."
HiFi is one of the highest quality sound reproductions, and something that Spotify has promised to integrate into its platform for years.
This price increase will not impact users in the United States immediately. Per Bloomberg, costs will first increase in the United Kingdom, Australia, Pakistan, and "two other markets." These locations will face a higher price tag for a Premium account by the end of April. Customers in the United States can expect an increase at an unspecified time "later this year." The U.S. remains the company's largest market.
The company plans to have a new version of its basic plan, which will cost $10.99 -- the current rate for a Premium account.
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