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“That said, Spotify is always evaluating pricing in each of our markets, and we’ve increased pricing in a number of them. Raising prices is a fine balance - we don’t want to drive people back to piracy or unmonetized solutions. The cost of a subscription is not an insignificant amount for many. It writes: “Spotify persuaded listeners to pay a set price for music monthly, shifting fans away from piracy. On Spotify’s recently-launched Loud & Clear website, the company directly answers the question: Why doesn’t Spotify just charge listeners more? “Raising prices is a fine balance - we don’t want to drive people back to piracy or unmonetized solutions.” Worth noting: Spotify’s ARPU changes (as illustrated above) don’t take into account inflation.įor example, in the US, $5 spent on Spotify in its launch year of 2011 is today (2021) worth just $4.25, according to reverse inflation. MBW research suggests that the global ARPU of premium music streaming services fell by around 8% last year in the US, we estimate, it fell by 8.4% to $7.74 per month. SPOT says in its shareholders letter that it has already raised prices across a variety of its Premium offerings in over 30 markets, adding that “early results have shown no material impacts to gross intake or cancellation rates”.ĭebates over whether Spotify should raise its prices yet higher continue to rage in the music industry. “Product mix” essentially means discounted bundle deals, including SPOT’s Student, Family, and Duo Plans – the prices of which it’s now set to slightly raise in the aforementioned handful of major markets.
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Spotify told its shareholders today: “Excluding FX, product mix accounted for the majority of the ARPU decline.”
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