Spotify hikes its prices for millions of UK customers: Premium plans jump by up to 13%

Release time：2024-05-21 15:10:36 Source：International Identities news portal

With more than 600 million users worldwide, Spotify is one of the biggest apps of them all. 

But its users are now fuming, as the streaming giant has confirmed it's raising its prices for the second time in less than a year. 

In the UK, all three of Spotify's Premium subscription tiers are going up in price by as much as 13 per cent. 

The Individual plan goes from £10.99/month to £11.99/month, Duo goes from £14.99/month to £16.99/month, and Family is now a whopping £19.99/month, up from £17.99/month. 

The price increase has sparked anger among many users, with some even threatening to cancel their subscriptions.  

It is the default music streaming app for millions of people around the world. But Spotify risks angering its userbase by raising prices yet again 

Spotify has continued to add new users and paid subscribers every year, even when it first increased prices in July 2023 

How much will Spotify cost? 

Individual: £11.99/month (up from £10.99/month)  

Duo: £16.99/month (up from £14.99/month)  

Family: £19.99/month (up from £17.99/month) 

Spotify is sending an email to customers telling them about the price increase, which will come into effect next month.

Spotify said it is increasing prices so it can keep bringing customers 'the best experience'. 

'Starting on your billing date in May, your subscription price will change,' the email reads. 

'You'll continue to get the benefits that you know and love today, like ad-free music listening and downloading to listen offline.'

Users took to X (formerly Twitter) to share their anger, with one asking the company 'are you completely mad?'

He continued: 'Finally a reason to leave for @AppleMusic! Been a Spotify member for years so this is such a shame!'  

Another simply posted: 'Spotify going up, may cancel out of principal [sic].' 

Yet another said: 'spotify is going up again? Didn't it literally increase in price less than a year ago?'

Pictured, email sent to a Premium Duo customer in the UK. Duo - which lets two people who live together stream from one account - goes from £14.99/month to £16.99/month

Users took to X (Twitter) to share their anger, with one asking the company 'are you completely mad?'

Another X user simply posted: 'Spotify going up, may cancel out of principal [sic]'

Another said: 'spotify is going up again? Didn't it literally increase in price less than a year ago?

'Think it's time to cancel': Spotify has an estimated 574 million monthly active users worldwide

READ MORE: Spotify takes on YouTube: Music streaming app now lets you watch full music videos - but there's a catch

Last week, Bloomberg reported that Spotify is raising its prices in five markets by the end of April, including the UK, Australia and Pakistan, as well as the US later this year.

The report said the Swedish audio company wants to raise money to cover the costs of offering free audiobooks to Premium subscribers. 

Although Spotify didn't verify this, its new email to customers confirms that the price hike is official. 

Spotify's UK website has also been updated with the new prices. 

The only tier that isn't affected is the Student tier, which stays at £5.99/month, but this isn't available for the vast majority of users. 

Despite an outpouring of frustration online, Spotify looks likely to continue its growth. 

Spotify's UK website has also been updated with the new prices. Individual goes from £10.99/month to £11.99/month, while Duo goes from £14.99/month to £16.99/month. Family is now £19.99/month, up from £17.99/month, while Student stays the same

Spotify has managed to add new monthly users and paid subscribers every year since it was founded in 2015. 

Even between 2022 and 2023, during the time prices were last increased, Spotify added 113 million new users.

By the end of 2023, Spotify had 612 million monthly users – 236 million of whom were paid subscribers.

In March, Spotify went head-to-head with YouTube as it launched a music-video streaming service for premium subscribers.

WHAT IS SPOTIFY?

Spotify is a music, video and podcast streaming service founded on April 23, 2006 in Stockholm, Sweden.

Spotify allows users to create and customise their own playlists and browse content using parameters such genre, artist and album searches. 

It compensates artists by paying them royalties based on the number of their streams proportional to the number of total songs streamed overall.

The company was founded by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon and officially launched on October 7, 2008. 

Spotify is a music, video and podcast streaming service founded on April 23, 2006 in Stockholm, Sweden. Spotify allows users to create and customise their own playlists and browse content using parameters such genre, artist and album searches

It operates using a ‘freemium’ service model, meaning that its basic features are free with some restrictions and advertisements while additional services are available via paid subscription.

The service is available in most of North and South America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and some parts of Asia. 

It’s available on macOS, Windows and Linux computers as well as on Android, iOS and Windows smartphones and tablet computers.

Spotify currently has approximately 159 million users, 71 million of whom use paid subscription services. 

Its revenue for fiscal year 2017 is believed to be about $4.99 billion (£3.63bn).

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