In a widely anticipated move, Spotify raised its music-streaming prices around the globe Monday, with its individual Premium plans in the US matching the $10.99-a-month price point that’s now the industry standard.
Starting immediately, new Spotify subscribers will pay $10.99 a month for individual Spotify Premium plans, a $1-a-month increase compared to the $9.99/month price point that held steady for a dozen years.
This news story is part of TechHive’s coverage of the best music streaming services.
Meanwhile, the price for Spotify’s Premium Family tier in the US is going up to $16.99 a month, also a $1-a-month price hike, while Premium Duo plans are now $14.99 a month, a $2-a-month increase. Spotify’s student plans aren’t immune to the price hikes either, with Premium Student now slated to pay $5.99 a month, a $1/month increase.
Spotify’s paid streaming plans are also going up in other territories. For example, Spotify individual premium plans in the UK will now pay £11.99 a month, a one-pound increase.
The new Spotify Premium prices are going into effect immediately for new subscribers, while existing subscribers will get a month’s “grace period,” according to a Spotify FAQ about the price hikes. Those on Spotify trial offers will get to keep paying the “original” streaming price for a month, after which the price hike will go into effect.
If you were hoping the Spotify price hikes would include word of Spotify HiFi, Spotify’s long-delayed lossless streaming feature, bad news: There isn’t any, or at least not yet.
Instead, we’re stuck with the same Spotify Premium plans as before, and there’s nothing about a rumored new–and even pricier–Spotify Premium tier that includes Spotify HiFi.
That said, Spotify is slated to announce its second-quarter 2023 earnings on Tuesday–tomorrow–so perhaps we’ll finally hear some Spotify HiFi news then. Update (7/25/2023): Nope, no mention of Spotify HiFi during Spotify’s Q2 2023 earnings report.
Word of Spotify’s plans to raise its Premium prices leaked out late last week, but the writing was on the wall even before then.
Apple Music was the first big music streamer to up its paid individual streaming plan to $10.99 a month, and other major music-streaming services soon fell in line.
Spotify held out for several months longer than Apple, which upped its Apple Music prices last October. Amazon raised its individual Music Unlimited price to $10.99 a month in January, and Tidal followed suit with a Tidal HiFi price hike earlier this month.
Author: Ben Patterson, Senior Writer
Ben has been writing about technology and consumer electronics for more than 20 years. A PCWorld contributor since 2014, Ben joined TechHive in 2019, where he covers smart speakers, soundbars, and other smart and home-theater devices. You can follow Ben on Twitter.