The most prolific and often divisive streaming service in the game, Spotify, has been seeing monumental success for nearly ten years at this point. It hasn't been without its share of controversies, such as its denunciation of Ye f.k.a Kanye West while still streaming his music. With that success, however, comes a redirecting of company practices and policies. According to a Business Insider report from this week, Spotify's CEO and co-founder Daniel Ek said on Tuesday that he would like to increase what Spotify charges monthly for its ad-free services.
"Mostly to the [U.S.]-based price increases, it is one of the things that we would like to do, and this is a conversation we will have in light of these recent developments with our label partners," Ek allegedly told press during an earnings call. Many within the industry, however, whether it's artists or executives, aren't happy with these streaming services. Diddy recently called Spotify and Apple Music out for trying to control artists' releases.
Since Spotify launched in 2011, it has charged $9.99 a month for individual premium subscriptions and $15.99 a month for family plans. Their third quarter in 2022 saw their revenue grow by 22 percent to $3.04 billion, and reports expect 479 million monthly active users and 202 million premium subscribers in the fourth quarter. This growth contributes to Ek feeling "really good" about the upcoming year and "what that means in pricing in relation to our service." Spotify's growth has become so monumental that Ek has been often summoned as its CEO to contribute to music copyright cases.
While many will likely not be happy if Spotify gets more expensive, it would follow a trend of streaming services raising their subscription prices. Apple Music's individual subscription went from $9.99 to $10.99 a month last Monday, whereas its family plan went from $14.99 to $16.99 a month.
9to5Google reported that YouTube also increased its subscription fees. Its premium family subscription is now $22.99 a month rather than the previous price point of $17.99, yet its individual premium plan remains at $11.99 a month. It seems that no matter what, subscription services will be making our pockets a little thinner.
