Mr Gutierrez had been invited to the committee to give evidence on whether musicians are being paid fairly by services like Spotify, Amazon Music and Apple Music. Horacio Gutierrez, its chief legal officer, recently told MPs on the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport parliamentary select committee that raising the monthly subscription cost above the current £9.99 a month and making subscriptions “unaffordable to consumers” would end up "pushing them back into online piracy". Price increases have long been floated within Spotify but are seen as a delicate balancing act. The company's shares rose by more than 4pc on Monday. Netflix has shown it can steadily increase monthly prices in recent years without losing users, but Spotify has been more reticent. Subscription services raising prices has often been seen as a bullish sign by investors, suggesting that providers believe they can increase costs without losing users. Shareholders were disappointed to hear it had accrued operating losses of $335m in 2020, a year in which rival streaming services thrived as more people stayed home and in which Spotify itself hit a milestone of 150m subscribers. Spotify, which is valued at $56bn (£40bn), is under pressure both from investors to improve profitability and from the music industry to pay more out to artists.
US users have only been told of increases for the Premium Family tier, while those in a handful of European countries will see similar price rises to the UK. It began surveying Britons in March to see how much customers would be willing to pay as it tries to spin a profit. Spotify said the changes were “so we can continue to bring you new content and features that you can enjoy both as a couple and as individuals”.ĭespite testing higher rates in some markets, this marks the first time the music streaming service has officially raised prices for customers in the UK. Individual Premium accounts will remain the same price of £9.99. Those signed up to Spotify’s Premium Family service will foot the largest increase, from £14.99 per month to £16.99. In the UK, the company's Premium Student tier will rise from £4.99 per month to £5.99 and its two-person offering Duo will change from £12.99 per month to £13.99, according to an email sent to customers on Monday. Spotify is raising prices for some users in the UK, US and parts of Europe, the first time the music streaming company has increased monthly subscription costs in the markets.
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