By Michaela Gordoni
Spotify is the latest of many streamers to hike prices.
“Beginning next month, the company’s individual premium plans will jump from $11.99 to $12.99 a month. The Duo family and student plans will also increase,” CBS’s Kelly O’Grady said last week.
Spotify said the move would help benefit its artists.
“I think they are raising prices in part to kind of build a sustainable profitable business, which has eluded them for a while,” said Alex Weeper, senior editor for the Hollywood Reporter. “There’s no question that we’re seeing streamflation. A lot of them, when they launched a few years ago, they launched at artificially low prices to try and get people to subscribe, and they’re now beginning to catch up.”
Other recent streamers that raised prices are Peacock, Disney Plus and Paramount Plus.
Related: Streaming Price Hikes Force Many Americans to Halt Subscriptions
The Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed streaming subscriptions had a jump in price of 19.5% from November to December. The most popular content is sports.
Reviews.org’s “2024 State of Consumer Media Spending Report” found that the average American household spends $42.38 per month on streaming, more than $508 a year.
Nearly 70% of consumers are exhausted by the constant increased prices, and about 40% report cancelling a subscription due to increased cost.
Weeper said, “There is a natural limit to how much they will pay ultimately, but we haven’t hit it yet.”
With Spotify’s new prices, it will be the most expensive music streaming platform out there.
O’Grady suggested to cut down costs, users can “go for the ad-supported version…Go through and audit your streaming services… Everything’s on autopay, so you kind of forget.”
“So, be realistic. Are you actually even opening that app? Are you watching things? If you’re not, maybe put it on pause,” she said.
If you’ll use multiple services, check for bundles like Hulu and Disney+. And if you pay for services annually, that can cut down costs. You save more money in the long run than when you pay a monthly fee.
“And then call your mobile provider and your internet provider. They often offer, you know, a yearly free trial,” she explained.
T-Mobile offers free Netflix Standard with ads, Apple TV and Hulu, Vulture reported in November. Verizon Wireless offers a Disney bundle, Netflix, HBO Max, Apple One, YouTube Premium and Fox One. Metro by T-Mobile offers an Amazon Prime membership, and Cricket Wireless offers members HBO Max’s ad-supported tier.
While increasing streaming costs are frustrating, it looks like there might be some good ways to cut back.
Read Next: Consumers Fed Up with Streaming Service Price Hikes
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