Spotify is raising prices again. What listeners need to know.

By Emily Bary

Spotify's individual monthly plan will start at $11.99 - more expensive than the comparable offering from Apple Music

The much-awaited Spotify price hike is here.

Spotify Technology SA (SPOT) announced early Monday that it was raising prices for its various paid streaming offerings in the U.S. The monthly price of an individual plan, for instance, will go up by a buck to $11.99.

The price of the Duo plan, which allows for two users to share an account, will go up to $16.99 a month from $14.99 a month. A family plan will start costing $19.99 a month, up from $16.99 before.

Spotify said that subscribers will receive an email in the next month detailing the changes to their plans. The company said the goal of the move is so "that we can continue to invest in and innovate on our product features and bring users the best experience," it noted in its release.

The streaming company was reported by Bloomberg News and others to be planning these price hikes after adjusting levels in several international markets earlier this year. That reporting, in early April, sent Spotify shares climbing.

The stock was up 2% in Monday's premarket action.

This will mark Spotify's second spate of price increases within the past year. The company announced various hikes last July as well.

The latest moves will make Spotify's service more expensive than Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) Apple Music offering. Plans there cost $10.99 a month for individuals and $16.99 a month for families.

"We are focused on shipping more product and better product for consumers and the way you should think about this as investors is, the better we can improve the product, the more people engage with our product and the more value we ultimately create and the more value we create, the more ability we will have to then capture some of that value by price increases," Chief Executive Daniel Ek said on Spotify's last earnings call in April.

-Emily Bary

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06-03-24 0729ET

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