Spotify said on Monday (July 24) it is raising the price of its premium individual plan by $1 in North and South America, Europe and Asia amid widespread calls from investors and the music industry to join other streaming platforms that have raised prices.
“The market landscape has continued to evolve since we launched,” Spotify said in an emailed statement. “So that we can keep innovating, we are changing our Premium prices across a number of markets around the world. These updates will help us continue delivering value to fans and artists on our platform.”
Starting on Monday, Spotify’s premium individual plan in the United States will cost $10.99 a month, while the premium duo plan will cost $14.99 a month, the premium family plan will cost $16.99 a month and the premium student plan will cost $5.99 a month. News of the price increases was first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Friday.
While the price of the individual subscription price has held steady at $9.99 per month in the U.S. for a dozen years, Spotify did increase the price of its family plan from $14.99 to $15.99 and raised subscription prices in other markets, primarily on student, Duo — an account for two subscribers — and family plans.
Many investors and Wall Street analysts have advocated for price hikes to boost top-line revenues and improve music gross margins. JPMorgan Chase analysts said in a March 8 report that a Spotify price increase for U.S. individual plans would create incremental annual revenue of about $200 million.
Music company executives have also called on Spotify to raise its prices, saying that keeping prices low undervalues popular music and hurts license holders.
Several of Spotify’s competitors, including Apple, Amazon, and more recently Block-owned music streaming service Tidal have raised the price on their individual and group plans, saying customer churn was barely affected.
The price increases will go into effect from Monday in more than 50 markets worldwide. To see Spotify’s announcement and the full list of markets, click here.
This story originally appeared on Billboard
