Spotify $SPOT’s shares jumped on Monday after the company said it would raise its subscription prices across a number of regions globally.
The music streaming giant is hiking prices across South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region, according to a statement.
Customers will receive emails with details of the new price plan over the next month, the company said, with price changes varying country-by-country. The statement included a sample email that detailed a €1 per month increase to €11.99 ($13.87) for European customers. “To continue to innovate on our product offerings and features and bring users the best experience, we occasionally update our prices,” it said.
Spotify shares rose as much as 7% shortly after markets opened, bringing the company’s gains so far this year to 47%.
The U.S. market was not included in the price increase announcement, after the company raised prices for Americans in 2023 and 2024 to a current cost of $11.99 per month. However, it comes after a period in which investors have urged the streaming company to raise prices because of growing demand.
Spotify said last week that it has seen “growth across all regions, with outperformance led by Rest of the World, Latin America, and Europe” over the last year, and subscribers grew 12% compared to the same point in 2024 to 276 million people. Monthly active users, including free accounts, stood at 696 million people.
However, the July 26 update also revealed that the music giant swung to a second-quarter loss of €86 million ($100 million), amid rising costs. Those were driven by growing headcount, rising services and marketing costs, as well as so-called “social charges” — payroll taxes that go up with the company’s share price.
When asked on an earnings call last week why Spotify does not raise prices more often, chief executive Daniel Ek said he is prioritizing keeping subscribers over the long term rather than making quick gains in revenue.
He added: “People come to Spotify and they stay on Spotify. By constantly evolving, we create more and more value for the almost 700 million people using our platform. This value not only benefits users but it’s attracting more people to streaming and as a result, it’s also boosted the industries of music, podcasts, and audiobooks.”
Meanwhile chief business officer Alex Norström said the company would raise prices when it is “appropriate," pointing to recent subscription increases in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.