Spotify Announces Second Round of U.S. Price Increases — Updated Charges Set to Hit Subscribers in July

A new round of Spotify price increases has officially been teed up for July in the U.S. Photo Credit: Reet Talreja

For the second time in a year – and following ample speculation – Spotify has announced plans for price increases in the U.S.The Stockholm-based platform formally revealed its latest round of price bumps via a brief release; a related email, the concise message communicates, will reach stateside subscribers “over the next month.”

Including a screenshot of this email for good measure, the announcement indicates that the quick-approaching increases will go into effect in July. At that point, the solo plan will cost $11.99, against $16.99 for Duo, $19.99 for the Family package (which supports up to six users), and $5.99 for the Student tier.

It’s unclear whether increases are also set to hit different markets. Previously, reports suggested bumps were imminent in the U.K. and several other nations, but Spotify didn’t appear to have publicly addressed the matter at the time of writing.

What is clear, however, is the business’s aggressive approach to boosting revenue and pursuing profitability. Last year’s aforementioned streaming price spikes, starkly contrasting a long line of price increases for video streaming services, brought a departure from the long-standard $9.99-per-month charge for individual subscribers in the States.Nevertheless, all signs have since then pointed to continued subscription growth for Spotify and its main competitors. For Q1 2024, the service reported an average of 239 million subscribers (up 14 percent year over year) as well as 388 million ad-supported users.

And with monetization also front of mind for the major labels – UMG’s Lucian Grainge, WMG’s Robert Kyncl, and SME’s Rob Stringer have hardly been subtle in their calls for heightened subscription prices and ARPU – it’ll be worth closely monitoring adjacent initiatives moving forward.

Keeping the focus on Spotify, those initiatives could include add-ons, seemingly available to activate on all plans, like higher-quality audio, according to reports. More interesting yet, Stringer last week rather directly made the case for an additional charge on ad-supported streaming accounts in “mature markets.”

Time will tell whether that charge, which could dissuade user sign-ups given the many available music streaming options, comes to fruition. But the earnest proposal underscores the noted commitment to unlocking new digital revenue (the majors are also leaning into superfan initiatives in various ways) amid ongoing subscribership growth.

While early social media responses to the Spotify price increases are less than positive, investors appear enthusiastic about the change. At $310.79 per share, Spotify stock (NYSE: SPOT) is currently up 4.72 percent on the day and nearly 100 percent from early June of 2023.