Spotify's latest price hike has been confirmed – and it's bad news for subscribers

By Ainsley Walker
published

Prices for individual plans now exceed many rivals

Spotify banner
(Image credit: Spotify)

Spotify has confirmed that prices in the UK will be increasing from May. 

The music streaming service has emailed customers about the upcoming price changes, which could be up to £2 more depending on the type of plan. This confirms previous rumours that Spotify was set to raise prices in five major regions in an attempt to increase long-term profitability. 

Individual Premium plans will be increasing by £1, while Duo and Family Premium plans are set to go up by £2. It marks the second time in less than a year that the company has hiked prices after subscriptions increased by £1 per month last July. 

Spotify price changes

• Individual – was £10.99 per month, now £11.99 per month
• Duo – was £14.99 per month, now £16.99 per month
• Family – was £17.99 per month, now £19.99 per month

The Student plan will not increase in price, staying at £5.99 per month. Existing customers will be sent an email giving them one month’s notice of the price changes, whereas new subscribers will be charged at the new price immediately. 

There were also rumours of a new 'Basic' tier and the long-anticipated ‘Hi-Fi’ tier finally arriving, however, there has been no word on either of these plans yet. 

Spotify are not alone when it comes to increasing the price of their services, however, these latest changes now mean they are more expensive than most streaming alternatives. Apple Music, Amazon Music Unlimited, and Tidal each charge £10.99 per month for an individual account. Tidal’s Family plan is also £16.99 per month for up to six members, which is £3 cheaper than Spotify’s Family Premium.

Spotify had 236 million paying customers at the end of 2023. Despite this, the company has lost money every year since 2018 when it went public. Last year, more than $9 billion from $13.2 billion in total revenue was paid to record labels. 

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Ainsley Walker
Staff Writer

Ainsley Walker is a staff writer at What Hi-Fi?. He studied music journalism at university before working in a variety of roles including as a freelance journalist and teacher. Growing up in a family of hi-fi enthusiasts, this naturally influenced his interest in the topic. Outside of work, Ainsley can be found producing music, tinkering with retro tech, or cheering on Luton Town.

5 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Deliriumbassist
    Yet this was the price of a CD, what... 15+ years ago? And that's assuming inflation was non-existent. 10.99 for more music than you could ever listen to? Sounds like a bargain.
    Reply
  • Gray
    Deliriumbassist said:
    Yet this was the price of a CD, what... 15+ years ago? And that's assuming inflation was non-existent. 10.99 for more music than you could ever listen to? Sounds like a bargain.
    Yes, CDs were sold at ripoff prices in the early years - they didn't need to charge so much - but they could, so of course, they did.

    As for the comparison:
    For the CD, you don't pay £10.99 per month, every single month (until they fancy doing another increase).

    True enough, Spotify gives plenty of choice - so do Tesco. What percentage of that choice do you use?
    Reply
  • Hifiman
    Deliriumbassist said:
    Yet this was the price of a CD, what... 15+ years ago? And that's assuming inflation was non-existent. 10.99 for more music than you could ever listen to? Sounds like a bargain.
    That is very true but the point is that Spotify is now charging more for what could be argued as being an inferior product compared to its rivals, from a SQ perspective at least. What confuses me is the number of colleagues who could never consider moving away from Spotify. I know the music curation is to be lauded but there also appears to be elements of both (maybe misplaced) loyalty to the brand and reluctance to try something different.
    Reply
  • twinkletoes
    Deliriumbassist said:
    Yet this was the price of a CD, what... 15+ years ago? And that's assuming inflation was non-existent. 10.99 for more music than you could ever listen to? Sounds like a bargain.
    Many will pay as they have vast libraries and playlist but one has to think when tidal is now charging 10.99 for all the bells and hi res whistles. What constitutes good value? playlists be damed I wouldn't be paying more for less.
    Reply
  • krbo
    how this could be, that Spotify is in red numbers every year, if 13,2 bln of revenue minus 9 bln for record labels is still 4.2 bln? how is technically possible to spend such a money 🤑?
    Reply