Welcome to Incremental Social! Learn more about this project here!
Check out lemmyverse to find more communities to join from here!

Spotify is raising the cost of Premium subscriptions, again

Spotify is officially raising its Premium subscription rates in the US come July, following reports of the move in April. The platform is increasing its Individual plan from $11 to $12 monthly and its Duo plan from $15 to $17 monthly — the same jump as last year's $1 and $2 price hikes, respectively. However, its Family plan is going up by a whopping $3, increasing from $17 to $20 monthly. The only subscribers getting a break are students, who will continue to pay $6 monthly.

Spotify announced the price hikes less than a year after its previous one last July. Before that, Spotify hadn't raised its fees since launching a decade and a half ago. I guess it was too optimistic to hope the next increase would also take that long, especially with Spotify's continued focus (and money dump) on audiobooks.

Premium subscribers should receive an email from Spotify in the next month detailing the price hike and providing a link to cancel their plan if they would prefer to do so. Users currently on a trial period for Spotify will get one month at $11 after it ends before being moved up to a $12 monthly fee.

AmieFromEarth ,

Why does noone here mention Deezer as an alternative? Serious question, cause im currently testing their free trial. They also pay more than Spotify to the artists and have better audio quality. Also i like the flow playlist feature so far. Any reasons against Deezer? Or anything in specific that makes Tidal better?

Shyfer ,

Odds the cost comparable to Spotify and Tidal? Preferably cheaper? Lol

Also do you know if it interacts with Apple Carplay or Android Auto? Looking for an alternative myself if Spotify will keep raising prices.

AmieFromEarth ,

Same price if Spotify raises prices. But they have an annual plan that makes it cheaper than Spotify.
I have no clue about apple stuff, sorry. And i never use Android Auto. Im no help here.

Shyfer ,

Thanks for answering anyway!

StormWalker ,
@StormWalker@lemmy.zip avatar

Spotify pays very little to artists, And the sound quality is not high.

I will be switching to Tidal very soon, as it offers HiFi and it pays more to artists. I believe it pays much more.

Spotify has been greedy and cheap in my most humble opinion!

IzzyScissor ,

Prices will continue to go up until the number of subscribers lost due to the price increase outweighs the additional profit from the subscribers who agree to pay the higher amount.

Capitalism machine goes brrrrrrr

cmeu ,

It's to support all those artists right?
Right?

bbuez ,

Im just happy my cracked apk somehow still works. Lol

art ,
@art@lemmy.world avatar

I'm sure this is the last time. 😉

jeremyparker ,

Surely it's because they want to increase the amount they pay the musicians.

DiscoShrew ,
@DiscoShrew@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

Any love for Qobuz?

Shyfer ,

Never heard of that one. It work with Android Auto and Apple Carplay? And cost less than or equal to Spotify?

3volver ,

The problem is that creators aren't getting paid their fair share, and these platforms leech off of their creativity. I hate to be "that guy", but this is where NFTs actually have a use case. Give power directly to the creators of their music by allowing them sell directly to fans. This gives power to the creators and to the listeners who own the NFT. Embracing new technology is a way to break beyond corporate enshittification. We must break past "you will own nothing and be happy" and it seems like blockchain is one of the only ways to do it technologically.

mxcory ,

Why not just use Bandcamp? Even with nfts someone has to maintain the CDN. Alternatively, run your own site.

ExperiencedWinter ,

Because then they wouldn't be able to evangelize NFTs. You see this constantly with crypto/NFT tech, a solution in search of a problem

Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In ,

Blockchain is used for Xbox royalties.

The problem is that legacy rights holder (the middlemen) have no incentive to use blockchain to cut themselves out. They have the legal high ground and are not going to give it up.

ExperiencedWinter ,

Right, and blockchain/NFT have nothing to do with that problem. Xbox could have implemented the exact same program without a blockchain, they just wanted the buzzword in the headline.

Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In ,

"By implementing a blockchain-based network and streamlined royalty processing, game publishers and Xbox benefit from a more trusted, transparent and connected system from contract creation through to royalty settlements"

Trust is the key ingredient added by blockchain. Traditional databases couldn't be trusted to be honest.

ExperiencedWinter ,

If a game developer can't trust the platform you're developing for, you probably should look to find better business partners.

Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In , (edited )

Excatly! Turn that around.

Platforms can attract more developers by proving they are trustworthy.

DinkleDorph ,

People have a negative image of NFTs because of the speculation and early (crappy) implementations of the technology. It's just a technology. I think web3 will be the answer to a lot of the corporate enshittification issues we see today. Community owned and operated networks and organizations are the future.

AhismaMiasma ,

Got the email of subscription increase, just cancelled.

Been trialling Tidal and we're both pretty happy with it. Integrates almost as well as Spotify with Android Auto and the sound quality is far better.

Grilipper54 ,

I might make the move to tidal as well, I just have a crazy big playlist though on Spotify that would be sad to lose.

Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In ,

On your Spotify account page, you can request a copy of your personal data which includes your playlist data.

GbyBE ,

When you create a tidal account they tell you how to transfer your playlists automatically via a 3rd party service (Limited to 500 tracks, unless you pay). Qobuz does the same, but if I'm not mistaken actually partners with the 3rd party service to offer it for free without the 500 track limit.

Grilipper54 ,

I downloaded the app for a trial today. It's already missing artist and albums that appear on Spotify for me which is a little upsetting. I was hoping a majority of the content was available on both platforms.

LycanGalen ,

Take a look at Deezer, too. It's what I went with because it offers high fidelity FLAC audio for paid subscriptions, and integrates with Google home voice commands, which Tidal didn't when I was looking.

killabeezio ,

I went with deezer for this reason as well. But deezer has gotten really bad and the interface is just God awful. I recently moved over to tidal and love it. It's way better than deezer at this point

LycanGalen ,

I haven't had any issues with it personally (not invalidating your experience) What has gotten bad about it?

killabeezio ,

Had issues downloading for offline. Recommendations are meh. Sometimes I can't search. Sometimes the app won't load when on cell data.

I never had issues like those before and then all of the sudden, it's not even usable. I get having bad cell coverage somewhere, but I would have a strong signal and it will still do it. I had to uninstall and reinstall the app multiple times for it to work.

Tidal is now cheaper and it has everything I would listen to. Before they were missing some bands and deezer had them. Doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

LycanGalen ,

Sounds like they missed some QA testing for your device or something. That sucks.

I do notice that the recommended music at the end of a playlist tends to skew more to whatever the last song was, rather than overall vibe of the playlist. Assuming it didn't end on a really annoying song, though, I don't personally mind changing directions a little. That said, can completely appreciate their algorithms not working for everyone.

I do think they've been working on improving the algorithms though, as they are definitely not as wonky as they were when I first joined a couple years ago. Nice to know at least some of my payment is going towards improving the platform, unlike Spotify, where it's going towards buying podcasts I don't want to listen to.

I pay for the annual subscription, so Deezer is still cheaper for me by about $2/month, but I'm glad you've found what you're looking for in Tidal. And thanks for humoring my curiousity.

jeremyparker ,

iBroadcast is what i use. That plus rutracker and you can sail the high seas like it's 1699.

cordlord ,

I switched to Tidal and the only thing I miss is the lyric search.
Otherwise, far better platform.

kandoh ,

Quality isn't good enough to justify the price. Apple Music and Tidal have better quality of sound.

Lianodel , (edited )

even apart from audio quality, Spotify is just plain terrible as a music library.

For someone who lives in playlists, it might be fine. But I like to pick and choose albums and songs, and be able to sort the whole collection on the fly. Spotify, and unfortunately a whole bunch of the competition, will have three separate lists for "liked" songs, albums, and artists. Only want to save the studio tracks, and not the demos and live versions? Fuck you, you can like the album or not, it's all or nothing! And the special edition is the only version we have! enjoy the solid hour of shittier versions of the songs you actually wanted!

Yerbouti ,

Obligatory Fuck Spotify comment.

BonesOfTheMoon ,

I was a Google Play Music person and loved it, and then they changed to YouTube. I got mad and tried Apple Music, but as a classical music lover it's vastly less than ideal for several reasons, so I went to Spotify and realized they liked to shuffle Britney Spears into me listening to lieder, so I went back to YouTube because at least they didn't do that. But it's just so basic compared to the absolute perfection that was GPM, and difficult to navigate. I don't know where to go next. I've been buying records on Bandcamp but I also like the streaming service to discover music with.

TheOakTree ,

Just to let you know, Tidal is not that great either.

Frequently having issues with downloaded albums, where I go into offline mode, pull up an album, and it says "can't connect" despite being in offline mode and the album taking up storage space on my phone.

Also, the discovery and new releases sections aren't very well made.

BonesOfTheMoon ,

It doesn't sound great. Maybe I'll just use Bandcamp only. It's just some classical albums are only on certain platforms.

Screemu ,

High chance they're all on Slsk as lossless files. That and foobar2000 and you'll be back in control of your music listening habits. Then buy physical from the artists if you want to support them and they offer a way to obtain it.

BonesOfTheMoon ,

Please speak to me like I'm dumb and explain all of this.

FarFarAway ,

You could check out deezer. It's European and they have a classical music section. Not sure how good it is. It's like $110 for a yearly subscription and they offer hi-fi streaming. Just another option for you to check out. 🤷

BonesOfTheMoon ,

Sounds good actually. I wonder if I can look at their content and see if they have what I want before subscribing? Any idea?

FarFarAway , (edited )

The app won't let you without signing in, I don't think, but i think the website does. Try this link or you can go to deezer.com and if you go to the hamburger menu at the bottom it has an "explore channels" option.

Edit: It's odd they don't let people browse I'm a more friendly way. And just so you know, once you sign up, you can search, make playlists, download for offline etc, the mostly same as spotify. When u first sign up, it also give you the option to migrate all your spotify plsylists over. Out of my thousands of songs saved, it did have 2 or 3 that didn't transfer over due to just not having it.

BonesOfTheMoon ,

I think I'll try it. Can't hurt. YouTube is such a hot mess.

ezvk ,

You should get back to apple music, they launched an app dedicated to classical music, and it's by far the best for this type of music.
Also it's lossless 24 bits

BonesOfTheMoon ,

Unfortunately due to licensing there's a lot of stuff I want they don't have, and some of it I can't purchase.

itstoowet ,

I was also a Google music enjoyer and also find the other streaming options pretty crappy. I've actually moved over to more curated options like internet radio for when I'm not in the mood for anything specific. Shout-out to NTS, I love you.

BonesOfTheMoon ,

What is NTS?

Cyberpunk3000 ,

nts.live internet radio from London

GbyBE ,

If you like classical music, give qobuz a try... High quality audio, large selection of classical music.

ppercipio ,

Thanks for this, never heard of them!

jeremyparker ,

If you like to upload your own music (like Google music), iBroadcast is the tippy tops. You can still use bandcamp (with or without yt-dlp) for discovery, and then upload what you like to iBroadcast.

BonesOfTheMoon ,

Nice suggestion thank you!

bluemite ,

Maybe try Napster: https://www.napster.com/
Sounds a bit like a joke, but it's not. It used to be Rhapsody, but was re-branded.

BonesOfTheMoon ,

I'm ok with that!

Karyoplasma ,

Their CEO just boasted about how making content for their platform comes with zero cost for the creators. So, why are they raising rates? Is the whole "you pay to support the creators" trope a lie? I am confused.

/s

johannesvanderwhales ,

Well it's probably the music labels. They basically only exist to steal money from the actual creators.

x0chi ,

In the early 90s I used to pay around 10 to 15 euros (20 to 30 with current inflation) for each CD release.

And still we still complain nowadays.

We got a problem with the streaming industry but it's not the price we pay.
We must be reasonable, say that the price is 15 bucks, is that really unreasonable for getting at your fingertips and everywhere most of the music even produced?
I don't.

I think the major problem with Spotify isn't Spotify problem, but an industry problem.
If I remember correctly, Spotify gets around 30%, then there's the distributor, and it gets around 40%. Whatever's left of the cake is divided between the label and the artist depending on the contract.
The industry created something that didn't need to exist, another intermediate, the distributor. First apple used them cause of the work they do arranging all the needed metadata and keeping it tidy. The industry created them, now it can't get rid of them, and they "eat" the most part of the money.

Spez ,

Then why does tidal for the same price as spotify with way less users pay four times as much to the artists than spotify? Spotify has the largest market share and now they are trying to milk the cow as much as they can because people are too lazy to switch. Most people don’t even know that you can transfer playlists. Same with Netflix (although they at least have more exclusive content).

TheOakTree ,

I don't really like Tidal, but this is why I have stuck with Tidal instead of switching back to Spotify. At least the artists get more money, and I get my higher bitrate. Now it seems that prices are getting even closer to parity, so that's less of a reason to switch back.

I considered trying Qobuz or Deezer, but I'm too lazy to switch right now.

redcalcium ,

Then why does tidal for the same price as spotify with way less users pay four times as much to the artists than spotify?

I wonder why too. Spotify takes a 30% cut, but even if Tidal takes 0% cuts, how come it can pays 4x as much to artists? There must be more to the math to make it check out.

Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In ,

Royalties come out of profits.

Profits = revenue - costs.

Inflate costs (pay 3rd parties you also own) and pay less royalties.

At least that's how the movie business works.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • technology@lemmy.world
  • random
  • incremental_games
  • meta
  • All magazines
    •