While Spotify has just announced a massive investment in the world of podcasts, with an impressive expenditure of 100 million dollars in the first quarter of 2025, the company could be forced to increase its prices in Europe in the coming weeks.
Even if the information has not yet been made official until present, and that it is a simple Financial Times rumor spread in recent days, this could be confirmed very soon...
A one euro increase targeting the European market
According to the FT, this upcoming increase would only concern the European market, and potentially Latin America. Although Anna Nicolaou, the Financial Times journalist, mentions a one euro increase for Spotify Premium subscribers starting this summer, this announcement is not likely to be well received.
Indeed, Spotify will already increase its pricesthis Thursday, May 1st for new subscriptions, before these are applied within 30 days for current Spotify Premium subscribers.
Earlier, in May 2024, a first increase had already taken place following the streaming tax voted by the Senate in November 2023. While this only represented around ten cents for the vast majority of users, going up to 22 euro cents for Premium Family subscriptions, the accumulation of these increases is not viewed very favorably.
Moreover, according to an internal source, this trend is expected to continue thereafter, with further increases. A potential "Super Premium" subscription, offered at $11 per month in the United States, could even see the light of day.
268 million subscribers, a rising figure for Spotify
These upcoming price increases come as the Swedish firm has just announced its figures for the first quarter of 2025. According to the company, the number of subscribers is even up 12% and reaching 268 million subscribers.
According to Daniel Ek, CEO and founder of Spotify, this success is essentially based on Spotify's "freemium" business model, combining both paid individual or family subscriptions, as well as free subscriptions that operate thanks to advertising.
While this is good news for the company, it is actually disappointing for investors. Despite an operating profit that has never been so high for Spotify, this is still well below their expectations.
In its financial report, Spotify justifies these results by 76 million euros of social charges which drastically reduce its gross margin, despite efforts made on other costs.
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