A new report from Bloomberg claims that Spotify is about to make major changes to its pricing and membership options. Among the adjustments are price hikes in a few major areas and the launch of a new plan that excludes audiobooks.
According to the reports, there would be increases of up to $2 per month for family and duo plans and about $1 per month for individual subscriptions in countries including Pakistan, UK, Australia, and two other unidentified regions. Insiders indicate a potential price change “later this year” in the US, which is its main market.
The higher prices, according to reports, are meant to cover the costs of providing audiobooks—a feature that Spotify just started to provide. Monthly audiobook usage for subscribers is limited to 15 hours. Despite customers believing that audiobooks are “free,” the corporation is nevertheless required to pay audiobook publishers for all of this listening time. Only listeners who have listened to audiobooks beyond the previously indicated limit have brought in money for Spotify thus far.
That’s why audiobooks will no longer be available on the new Spotify paying tier, although music and audiobooks will still be available. Users will need to pay extra for audiobooks at this tier, which will have the same cost as the existing premium tier. In summary, Spotify doubled the price of its premium plan after adding audiobooks, and then unveiled a new tier that did not include audiobooks.
There will be other subscription options available as well, such as a “supremium” plan that will include “among other features” that aren’t specified along with the highly desired lossless audio for music, or “high-fidelity audio.” This tier has been making appearances in leaks for a number of years, and it could soon be prepared for release.
