That sentence could be music to the ears of labels and publishers keen for Spotify to ‘test’ price rises in other parts of the world (especially if such a ‘test’, as with Norway, lasts over 16 months, with no sign of being reversed…).Įvidence, it appears, is mounting that the streaming music market could withstand a general raise in prices.Īnother way streaming services can raise their prices, of course, is by layering on additional tools and services for customers – especially when it comes to those music fans with less mainstream tastes.Īmazon, for example, is trying this with its new $15-per-month hi-def music streaming service, Amazon Music HD. This is the important bit: Ek then added that, “specifically related to the Nordic countries, we haven’t yet – it’s early days – we haven’t yet seen any material impact in either gross adds or churn. And in those cases, you should expect us to accordingly adjust the prices.” He confirmed: “There are local nuances that happen such as… inflation and pricing, tax related things, and sometimes it’s even down to market maturity. ”ĭaniel Ek, speaking during SPOT’s Q3 earnings call “Specifically related to the Nordic countries, we haven’t yet – it’s early days – we haven’t yet seen any material impact in either gross adds or churn. So it was interesting to hear Spotify CEO, Daniel Ek, directly address a question centered on these price rises in SPOT’s Q3 earnings call on October 28. Indeed, streaming revenues actually accelerated in Norway in the year that followed SPOT’s price hike. Recent MBW research, however, based on industry data, suggests that questions on this matter are actually anything but dumb.įollowing a ‘test’ price rise of 10% for Spotify Premium in Norway – launched in July 2018 – MBW found there hadn’t been any subsequent slowdown in music streaming subscription uptake in the market. The firm’s outgoing CFO, Barry McCarthy, infamously (and irritably) said last year that queries regarding a potential subscription price rise amounted to “one of the really dumb questions I get”. From then to now, factoring in inflation, that same amount of money in real terms is worth just $8.73 (or, to put it another way, $9.99 in 2011 is now worth $11.43).Īs Spotify’s ARPU rates continue to decline, pressure from rightsholders is being exerted on the company to consider raising its prices, but, so far, SPOT has resisted.
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