Spotify is finally set to hike the price of its music streaming subscription in the U.S. to $10.99 per month for an individual plan — up one dollar — according to a Wall Street Journal report. It’s a move that would be a long time in coming and follow similar increases by competitors.
When Spotify’s U.S. price increase would go into effect is unclear. The Journal story, citing anonymous sources, said the price hike for United States customers is expected to be announced next week, followed by similar increases in“dozens of markets globally in the coming months.”
Spotify has not changed the $9.99-per-month price of the ad-free Premium plan in the U.S. since it launched in 2011.
A Spotify rep declined to comment. The company is scheduled to report second-quarter 2023 earnings next Tuesday, July 25, before the market opens.
Daniel Ek, Spotify’s CEO, has previously said the company is considering a price increase in the U.S., following price increases by rivals like Apple Music. “When our competitors are raising their prices, that is really good for us,” he said on the company’s third-quarter 2022 earnings call in October, noting that the company had to that point raised prices more than 40 times in markets around the world.
Ek said that increasing the subscription price in the U.S., the world’s largest music market by far, “is one of the things we would like to do and it’s something we will [discuss] with our label partners. I feel good about this upcoming year, and what it means about pricing for our service,” he said, without providing further details.
Last fall,Apple Music raised its subscription price to $10.99 per month for individuals, with the family plan jumping two dollars to $16.99/month, among other plan increases.Amazon Music Unlimited also raised its monthly price to $10.99(for non-Prime members), and this week YouTube increased the price of the YouTube Music Premium plan to $10.99/month (while also raising the fee for YouTube Premium by $2, to $13.99/month).
In the first three months of 2023, Spotify gained 5 million Premium subscribers — beating its expectations — to stand at 210 million. Overall, including free, ad-supported accounts, it tallied 515 million total users worldwide. Revenue for Q1 fell short of Spotify’s guidance, which the company blamed on headwinds in its advertising business.
