TOPLINE
Shares of Spotify rose by about 5% on Monday, after the company announced it will once again raise the prices for its subscription plans in the U.S., following an increase in subscribers.
KEY FACTS
Spotify shares rose to over $310 as of 10 a.m. Monday, following an earlier surge in premarket trading.
The music streaming firm said it would raise the monthly prices of its ad-free, premium subscription tiers in the U.S. starting in July: the individual plan will cost $11.99 per month, up from $10.99, the Duo plan increased from $14.99 to $16.99 and the family plan increased by $3 to $19.99 per month.
Spotify will notify customers with premium subscriptions with an email next month, saying its price hikes will allow the company to “invest in and innovate on our product offerings and features and bring users the best experience.”
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Spotify is expected to roll out a $11 monthly subscription tier that will offer music and podcasts without audiobooks, requiring users on the plan to pay for audiobooks, Bloomberg reported. Spotify will announce a new “supremium” plan that includes high-fidelity audio at a higher price, though the company has not released details about the plan since being in the works since 2021, sources told Bloomberg.
BIG NUMBER
239 million. That’s how many subscribers Spotify reported in its first quarter this year, an increase of 14% year-over-year.
KEY BACKGROUND
Spotify previously announced price hikes for its monthly subscription tiers last year, when it raised its individual subscription price to $10.99. The company now charges more for its premium, ad-free subscriptions than rivals Amazon and Apple, which charge $9.99 and $10.99 for their individual plans, respectively. Additional price hikes followed Spotify’s announcement that it would offer subscribers 15 hours of audiobooks per month to compete against Amazon’s Audible.
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