Spotify's US prices are going up for the second time in 12 months. From July, the Individual plan will cost $12 a month (up from $11), the Duo plan $17 (up from $15) and its Family plan $20 (up from $17).
The ad-supported free tier remains, while students will still pay the reduced rate of $6 a month, Engadget reports.
No one likes a price hike at the best of times, especially given the sky-high levels of inflation in recent years. But this price rise comes just a year after the last. Prior to that, Spotify hadn't increased its prices on individual Premium accounts since launching in 2008 (it did on multi-user services in 2021).
It also makes Spotify more expensive than Apple Music's equivalent tiers. Apple Music includes hi-res streaming and Spatial Audio at no extra charge. Spotify is working on bringing these two features to users (hi-res should arrive via its Spotify HiFi tier), but it's rumoured they will cost extra (if they ever actually launch).
Spotify does include 15 hours of audio book listening in its Premium service, which Apple Music doesn't. The Swedish service has been investing heavily in podcasts and audio books recently. In an email to subscribers, it claims this price rise will help it "continue to invest in and innovate on our product offerings and features."
There's no word on whether Spotify will raise prices in other countries too.
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