According to Thurrott.com, Spotify is planning to raise the price of its Premium subscriptions in the United States during the first quarter of 2026. This would mark the first US price increase since June 2024, when Spotify previously hiked prices for Premium, Duo, and Family plans. The company has already implemented price increases in several other countries including the UK, Australia, and Pakistan in recent months. Spotify has been adding value to its Premium tier with new AI features and finally introduced lossless streaming in September at no additional cost. Meanwhile, the company also significantly improved its free offering two months ago by removing shuffle-only restrictions for mobile users.
The subscription inflation reality
Here’s the thing – we really can’t be surprised by this anymore. Every streaming service from Netflix to Disney+ has been steadily increasing prices, and music streaming was bound to follow. The Financial Times reports that major record labels have been pressuring Spotify, Apple Music, and other platforms to raise fees, arguing that subscription prices have lagged behind inflation. They’re not wrong – when you compare what you pay for unlimited music access versus video streaming services, music has been relatively cheap for years.
Competitive landscape shift
So where does this leave Spotify in the streaming wars? They’re walking a tightrope. On one hand, they need to keep prices competitive with Apple Music, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music. But they also need to actually make money, which has been Spotify’s eternal struggle. The recent free tier improvements are actually pretty smart – they give casual users a better experience while creating a clearer value proposition for Premium. Basically, if you’re serious about music, you’ll pay for the ad-free, unlimited experience. If you’re just casual, the free version is now good enough to keep you in the ecosystem.
What this means for you
Look, if you’re a Spotify Premium subscriber, you’re probably looking at paying a few more dollars per month starting early 2026. But is it worth it? That depends on how much you value the new features. Lossless audio is nice if you have the equipment to appreciate it, and the AI features are gradually becoming more useful. The bigger question is whether this becomes a pattern – are we looking at annual price increases now? Because that’s what’s happened with video streaming, and music services might be heading in the same direction. At least they’re giving us plenty of notice this time around.
