Spotify raises the price of premium subscription services in more than 50 countries -TGN

Spotify is raising the price of its ad-free premium service in more than 50 countries, including the US, UK and Ireland.

The music streaming company, which has more than 200 million Premium subscribers, said the move will result in a $1 (78p) increase to subscriptions in the US.

This means that the price of a single plan now starts with a monthly rate of $10.99 (£8.56), duo for $14.99 (£11.68), the family plan for $16.99 (£13.29), and the student plan for $5.99 (£4.67).

According to technology news website The Verge, the price of subscriptions in the UK will increase by £1.

A total of 53 countries will be affected by the price hike, including Spain, Australia, Canada and France.

The company said existing subscribers will be notified one month before price changes go into effect.

It’s because the other streaming services have also increased prices due to increasing pressure from investors to increase profitability after years of growing user numbers.

Services from Apple and Amazon have raised prices this year, while YouTube also raised prices for its monthly and annual premium plans in the US last week, the first time since the subscription service launched in 2018.

In recent months, Spotify laid off hundreds of employees and restructured the podcast unit, which it had built with billions of dollars in investment, to improve profits.

The Sweden-based company said Premium subscribers will have to switch to their free ad-supported service if they don’t want to pay the higher fee.