Blog: streaming pricing

Spotify finally announced a significant price increase, raising prices in the UK and some of Europe, with the US set to follow suit. The increases affect Family, Duo and Student plans. The fact that streaming pricing has remained locked at $9.

Streaming pricing, emerging questions:  Music Business Worldwide raised the question of why streaming is discounted in emerging markets when BMWs and Amazon Echoes are not. There are many layers to this, but the key one is – who is going to pay? High income urban elites can afford Western prices; the mass populous cannot.

The IFPI has reported that global recorded music revenues have hit $19.1 billion, which means that MIDiA’sownestimatespublished in Marchwere within 1.6% of the actual results . This revenue growth story is strong and sustained but the market itself is undergoing dramatic change.

Songwriter royalties have always been a pain point for streaming, especially in the US where statutory rates determine much of how songwriters get paid.  The current debate over Spotify, Amazon, Pandora and Google challenging the Copyright Royalty Board’s proposed 44% increase illustrates just how deeply feelings run.

Pricing has long been an issue for streaming music subscriptions, with the $/€/£ 9.99 price point above what most people spend on music each month. Streaming services have navigated around the issue with a combination of tactics such as telco bundles and aggressive price discounts (e.