It's official: Spotify subscriptions are about to get more expensive in the US and UK.
The biggest price jump is coming to Premium Family, which is rising from $14.99
/ £14.99 to $15.99 / £16.99 per month. Spotify says that this is "so we can continue to bring you new content and features that you can enjoy as a family and as individuals".
While the Family plan is the only affected service in the US, the price of a monthly subscription is being increased across the board in the UK: Premium Student is being raised from £4.99 to £5.99, and Premium Duo is going from £12.99 to £13.99.
Spotify Premium remains unchanged, and still costs $9.99 / £9.99 per month in both regions.
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The price hike will come into effect from April 30, 2021, though existing Premium members will get one additional month at the old price. For these subscribers, the the new price will become effective on their June billing date.
Spotify also says that, if you’re currently on a trial, once your trial ends you will be given one month on the current price before your bill is increased to the new fee.
In a statement sent to TechRadar, Spotify said, "With more than 70 million tracks and 2.2 million podcasts, Spotify continues to innovate and invest in providing our listeners with greater value than ever before, including the best audio content and user experience. We offer a variety of subscription plans tailored to our users’ needs, and we occasionally update our prices to reflect local macroeconomic factors and meet market demands while offering an unparalleled service."
Spotify or Apple Music?
While an extra $1 / £2 per month may not sound like a lot of money, the increased Family price in particular could be enough to tempt users to jump ship to Apple Music, which still offers a Family subscription for $14.99 / £14.99.
The news comes after it was revealed that Spotify could be on the verge of launching a podcast subscription service.
We've been hearing rumors of a Spotify podcast subscription for a while now, but a new report by the Wall Street Journal, says that plans and prices are going to be announced in the next few days.
If Spotify does launch a new podcast subscription service, that will put it in direct competition with Apple, which has just unveiled new subscription options for podcasts, enabling listeners to pay a regular fee for bonus content and early access from specific creators.
Apparently, there will be one crucial difference between the two, though: Spotify won't be taking any cut of the income that podcasters make, while Apple is slicing off 15-30% of subscriptions on its platform (a similar approach to the one Apple takes with the App Store).
We'll be interested to see whether Spotify offers a blanket subscription or a creator-led model like Apple – either way, the battle for your ears (and your money) is hotting up in the world of streaming.
