Spotify plans to raise the price of its advertisement-free premium streaming plan by $1 a month, sources told the Wall Street Journal on Friday, as the streaming giant looks to remain competitive in a growing streaming marketplace, following similar moves by Netflix and Peacock.
Key facts
- Spotify’s rate hike, which would reportedly raise the price of its individual “Premium Plan” to $10.99 per month, is the latest in a string of streaming services to increase pricing, following Amazon Music’s decision in January to increase its “Unlimited Individual Plan” from $9.99 to $10.99 per month, while raising its student pricing from $4.99 to $5.99 per month (Forbes reached out to Spotify for confirmation).
- YouTube Music this week also increased the price of its individual music plan from $8.99 per month to $10.99, while Spotify rival Apple Music raised its prices in October by $1 for individual users and by $2 for families, to $10.99 and $16.99 per month, respectively.
- Netflix also adjusted its subscription model this month, scrapping its cheapest ad-free plan for new customers in the U.S. and U.K., in a move to drive new subscribers to more expensive ad-free plans or a cheaper plan with ads, a move Netflix had previously sworn off—Netflix’s ad-free “Standard Plan” costs $15.49 per month while a “Premium Plan” with four simultaneous streams goes for $19.99 and its “Standard With Ads Plan” costs $6.99 per month.
- Also this month: NBCUniversal’s Peacock raised its rates from $4.99 to $5.99 per month for its “Premium Plan” while increasing its ad-free plan from $9.99 to $11.99—the latest streaming service to do so as the so-called streaming wars heat up.
Key background
Hulu, a stalwart in the streaming industry, raised its rates last October, increasing the price of its ad-free plan to $14.99—its plan with ads costs $7.99 per month. Disney+, another Disney-controlled streaming service, charges $7.99 with ads and $10.99 without them.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max, which rebranded this spring as a combination of HBO Max and Discovery+, raised its price for ad-free content from $14.99 to $15.99 in January, and offers a $19.99 monthly “Ultimate Ad Free” plan allowing up to four simultaneous streams, while Paramount+ raised its prices this spring from $9.99 per month to $11.99 for its ad-free “Premium Plan” and $4.99 to $5.99 for its plan with ads.
YouTube TV raised its rates in October from $64.99 per month to $72.99 per month. Amazon Prime Video, meanwhile, charges $8.99 per month, or $14.99 when bundled with an Amazon Prime membership.
What to watch for
A high-quality, and more expensive, Spotify subscription tier. Spotify was reported last month to be planning an ad-free option known internally as “Supremium” with high-fidelity (HiFi) audio with a launch targeted for later this year, Bloomberg reported.
Both Amazon Music and Apple Music offer HiFi with their standard plans.
Tangent
Shares of Spotify closed Friday afternoon at $171.71, down nearly 0.5% on the day, though its stock has soared this year as it recuperates from late 2022 doldrums, increasing nearly 110% on the year to a 17-month high.
This article was first published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
