this post was submitted on 16 Jan 2026
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Spotify’s 3rd price hike in 2.5 years hints at potential new normal (arstechnica.com)
submitted 7 hours ago by Powderhorn@beehaw.org to c/technology@beehaw.org
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I don't understand subscribing to music. Maybe it's just my age, but this isn't the '90s where you hear a track you like and that one song is going to run you $20 at Tower Records. I like a song, I pay $1.29 and then it's stored locally. Also cuts way down on data usage while driving. I struggle to get anywhere close to my 5GB data allowance.

After a dozen years of keeping subscription prices stable, Spotify has issued three price hikes in 2.5 years.

Spotify informed subscribers via email today that Premium monthly subscriptions would go from $12 to $13 per month as of users’ February billing date. Spotify is already advertising the higher prices to new subscribers.

Although not explicitly mentioned in Spotify’s correspondence, other plans are getting more expensive, too. Student monthly subscriptions are going from $6 to $7. Duo monthly plans, for two accounts in the same household, are going from $17 to $19, and Family plans, for up to six users, are moving from $20 to $22.

Spotify’s Basic plan, which is only available as a downgrade for some Premium subscribers and is $11/month, is unaffected.

For years, Spotify subscribers enjoyed stable prices, but today’s announcement marks Spotify’s third price hike since July 2023. Spotify last raised prices in July 2024. Premium individual subscriptions went from $11 to $12, Duo subscriptions went from $15 to $17, and Family subscriptions increased from $17 to $20.

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[–] warm@kbin.earth 2 points 5 hours ago

Individual plans are a rip-off yeah, Spotify is one of the only services I subscribe to and that's because I have a family plan, so it's not so easy for me to just cancel it, when others are relying on it. It works out at €3.40/month ($3.95) per member. The value there is really good.

Spotify lets you just listen to anything, I can put a playlist on and it will keep going forever and I have discovered many tracks I would have never listened to, or even known they existed. Buying music is great, but only when you know exactly what you want, I'm not a big music person, I like listening to it, but I don't really have a dialled in taste. Spotify is great for that.

There will obviously be a tipping point though when they inevitably raise the price too far and I will abandon ship.