- By Vikas Yadav
- Mon, 24 Jul 2023 09:10 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
JE Technology Desk: Spotify, a noted music and podcast streaming app, has increased the prices of its Premium plans in the United States and several other markets across the globe. This news came amid the rising speculation of the platform price hike in media reports.
According to Spotify, the updated prices and future innovations will help "deliver value to fans and artists." The new prices in the United States start from $5.99 (earlier $4.99/month) for Premium Student and go up to $16.99 (earlier $15.99/month) for Premium Family for a month. For Premium Duo and Premium Single, the prices are $14.99 (earlier $12.99/month) and $10.99 (earlier $9.99/month).
Spotify Premium Price Hike: Is India Affected?
The good news is that India remains unaffected by the price rise as of now. For a refresher, here are the unchanged prices currently applicable in India.
- Premium Single - Rs 119/month
- Premium Duo - Rs 149/month
- Premium Family - Rs 179/month
- Premium Student - Rs 59/month
A list of countries that will be affected by the price rise are: "Andorra, Albania, Argentina, Austria, Australia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Spain, Finland, France, United Kingdom, Greece, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Croatia, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Malta, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Peru, Portugal, Serbia, Sweden, Singapore, Slovenia, Slovakia, San Marino, Thailand, Türkiye, United States, Kosovo."
According to the FAQ, "Existing Spotify Premium plan subscribers will be notified via email and given a one-month grace period before the new price becomes effective."
Benefits of Spotify Premium
Premium Subscribers can enjoy ad-free music listening, offline playback via downloads and high-quality audio. In the announcement post, the company highlighted its new AI DJ and Blend features.
According to a FoneArena report, Daniel Ek, CEO of the company, had already teased the information of a possible price rise in the coming days. The move comes days after YouTube hiked the prices of its Music app and its regular Premium subscriptions in the United States. Music Premium now costs $10.99/month ($9.99 earlier).
Launched in 2008, Spotify has gained a large user base worldwide, with over 200 Premium users and is the "world's most popular audio streaming subscription service," according to the company.