Spotify’s recent expansion into audiobooks may result in another price hike for Premium users.As Bloomberg reports, Spotify is going to increase its price by $1 to $2 in five markets by the end of April, including the UK and Australia. Later this year, it will do the same in the US.Spotify already increased the price of Premium from $9.99 to $10.99 per month last year, the first time it had done so since 2011, when the service launched in the US. This year’s rate hike is reportedly intended to help pay for audiobooks on the platforms.Currently, Spotify’s Premium plan offers up to 15 hours of audiobook listening per month; those who hit the limit can purchase more listening time or the audiobook itself. Last month, it also launched an audiobook-only tier for $9.99 per month.If you’re not an audiobook fan and want to avoid a rate hike, Spotify will add a new basic tier with only music and podcasts for $10.99, Bloomberg says. The combined music-podcasts-audiobooks version will be $1 or $2 more depending on whether you have an individual or family plan. Last year, there were also reports of a $20 per month “Supremium” tier with access to higher-quality music as well as playlist-mixing tools and expanded access to audiobooks.
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It’s no secret that Spotify hasn’t turned a profit, even after laying off a significant percentage of its staff last year. A big reason for that, as per Bloomberg, is that the company pays out 70% of its profits to the music industry.
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