Swedish audio streaming major Spotify is reportedly set to raise subscription prices across major markets including the US, UK, Australia, and Pakistan.
According to a report by Bloomberg, Spotify will increase prices by about US$1 to US$2 a month in five markets including the UK and Australia by the end of April. The price rise in the US will be introduced later this year.
Additionally, it will introduce a new basic tier for the existing monthly price of an individual plan (which in Australia is $12.99 a month), and this plan will include access to music and podcasts, though not its audiobooks.
Bloomberg also reported that Spotify is working on a “supremium” plan, which would charge customers a higher price for access to high-fidelity audio.
The news of the latest Spotify price rises in Australia by the end of this month will, if confirmed, be the second increase in under a year. The cost of Spotify Premium in the country increased last July itself, with the monthly individual Premium tier plan increasing from $11.99 to $12.99.
Rival service, Apple Music, also increased its prices in October 2022 by $1 for individual accounts to $12.99. Apple Music Family subscribers saw a $2 raise, resulting in a monthly price of $19.99.
The NYSE-listed Spotify reportedly pays out about 70 per cent of its sales in royalties to the music industry. Spotify paid record labels, artists and others more than $9 billion last year – from $13.2 billion in revenue.
By the end of 2023, Spotify had 602 million users, including 236 million paying customers.
Earlier this month, Spotify said that beginning from April 9, its Premium users in Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand would have access to up to 15 hours of audiobooks per month integrated alongside music and podcasts through a unified subscription.
Its Premium audiobook catalogue is already available in the US, UK, and Australia and it adds that it is one of the largest subscription-based audiobook-streaming platforms at 250,000 titles and growing – up from 200,000 titles since late last year.
