Spotify has announced that it will be raising the price of its monthly premium membership by more than nine per cent.
Last summer, the streaming platform hiked its subscription prices for the first time ever in the 10 years since the streaming service launched. At the time, the premium plan went up to £10.99 per month, up from the previous price of £9.99 monthly in the UK. In The US, the premium subscription increased from $10 to $11 monthly.
Now, Spotify has revealed that their subscription will be increasing to £11.99 in the UK and $12 in the US. According to a Bloomberg report, Spotify plans to raise its subscription price in five markets, including the UK, Australia, and Pakistan, by the end of April, and will raise prices in the US later this year.
Speaking to City A.M., a Spotify spokesperson said that the subscription price hike was done “so that we can keep innovating and delivering value to fans, the music industry, and creators on our platform, we occasionally update our prices”.
They continued: “We’ve begun communicating with existing subscribers in the UK to explain what this means for their account.”
The price increase also comes ahead of a huge increase in music streaming. Last year, the BPI (British Phonographic Industry) measured 179.6bn streams in the UK which was double what was measured back in 2018 (per City A.M.).
The IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) also reported last year that roughly 67 per cent of the global music industry revenue was made up by streaming platforms.
Last week, Spotify has officially demonetised all songs on the platform with less than 1000 streams.
The policy was launched on April 1 and came after the streaming giant released a report last year, Modernising our royalty system, in which news of the decision first appeared. The move has been planned by the platform for some time.
The new regulations come following months of speculation about new policies the streaming service would be introducing, including rumours that the company would be making it harder for artists to generate royalties from their music.
Recently, Nine Inch Nails‘ Trent Reznor hit out against streaming, saying it has “mortally wounded” many artists.
“I think the terrible payout of streaming services has mortally wounded a whole tier of artists that make being an artist unsustainable,” he told GQ in a new interview.
“And it’s great if you’re Drake, and it’s not great if you’re Grizzly Bear,” he continued. “And the reality is: Take a look around. We’ve had enough time for the whole ‘All the boats rise’ argument to see they don’t all rise. Those boats rise. These boats don’t. They can’t make money in any means. And I think that’s bad for art.”
