Spotify is set to increase the amount you pay for your subscription in its latest price hike. Customers who have set up a monthly or yearly Spotify Premium plan can expect to fork out more money from May.
The popular audio streaming platform has begun rolling out emails to Brits to inform them of the upcoming rise. The current cost of an individual monthly premium subscription is £10.99.
However, from May, this will go up to £11.99 - a 9% increase. Meanwhile, for those who pay for an individual premium plan annually, they will need to pay an extra £12 a year.
And for Brits who pay for Spotify's Premium Family plan, they will have to start paying £19.99 a month - previously this was £17.99 a month. Spotify does offer a subscription plan that is completely free, but unlike its premium plan, this comes with ads, and you are unable to download songs or play songs in any order.
Other plans available on Spotify include Premium Student, which costs £5.99 a month. And Premium Duo, which costs £16.99 a month to own two premium accounts.
Spotify fans have taken to social media in the wake of the price hike news, with many unhappy about the announcement. On X, formerly known as Twitter, Pirite said: "Not happy @SpotifyUK."
Cheerupdakota put: "Why does Spotify keep upping their premium price..." 9bills said: "Anyone else just get that email from Spotify?? Price going to what!?"
Rhyssuxx asked: "Spotify is going up again? Didn’t it literally increase in price less than a year ago?" Spotify previously increased subscription prices in the UK by £1 extra a month in July last year.
Spotify says: "As we continue to grow our platform, we are updating our Premium prices so that we can keep innovating in changing market conditions. These updates will help us continue delivering value to fans. Existing subscribers will receive an email explaining what this means for their account closer to their monthly billing date.
"We are committed to delivering the best audio content around the world, and we are always working to bring our subscribers a highly personalized experience and powerful discovery tools. This update will help us continue delivering value to fans."
How to save money on Spotify:
Martin Lewis and his team at MoneySavingExpert (MSE) have shared a number of ways subscribers can cut costs on their Spotify subscription amid the price hikes.
Pay upfront with a gift card - Experts at MSE say that Amazon and Curry's currently have gift cards offering 12 months of Spotify Individual Premium for just £99 - which is a £44.88 saving compared to paying monthly. MSE says: "You DON'T need to cancel your existing subscription to make use of this offer.
"Just redeem the gift card in your Spotify account and the prepaid period will start on your next billing date at which point your regular monthly payments will stop – they'll restart once the 12 months has ended." MSE warn that the trick doesn't work for Duo, Family, or Student plans - as gift cards can only be redeemed on an Individual plan.
Downgrade - MSE says: "If you're on the Family subscription for up to six people, yet only two of you use the service, you can save £3 a month (both now and once the price hikes have taken force) by switching to Duo. Equally, if your Duo account is only used by one person, you can switch to an Individual account to save £4 a month now, or £5 a month after the hikes take force."
Use Spotify free - Spotify has confirmed that people who don't mind ads can still get Spotify free, albeit, they will have less control over what they listen to. Most songs will be played on shuffle though, and you'll have to listen to the occasional advert.
Consider switching - A number of other streaming platforms offer a similar service for cheaper rates. For example, Apple Music is £10.99 per month for individuals, while Amazon Music Unlimited is also £10.99 per month.
Use free trials - MSE says: "Both Amazon Music Unlimited and Apple Music (as well as Spotify) offer free trials to new users, in some cases of up to three months. Just remember to cancel any trials before they end if you don't want to actually pay for the service."
