Spotify reported an operating loss of €228 million for the quarter on revenue of €3.04 billion, the latter of which represented an increase of 21 percent year over year. CFO Paul Vogel said 2022 has been a year of investment. It’s too early to provide guidance with respect to 2023, but the executive said they do expect profitability rates to improve next year relative to 2022. Speaking of paying subscribers, CEO Daniel Ek said a Spotify price hike would be coming sometime in 2023. Premium subscribers in the US currently pay $9.99 per month for an individual plan, $12.99 for two accounts or $15.99 for a family plan that affords six accounts. Individual plans for students are priced at $4.99 per month. A price increase for Spotify seems par for the course, especially at this stage of the game.
Apple earlier this week announced price hikes for multiple subscription services including Apple Music and Apple TV+. Last week, YouTube increased the price of its Premium family play by $5 per month and invited customers to share their feedback on the rate change. Disney over the summer announced it will be increasing prices starting in December, and Netflix hiked prices across the board for US subscribers at the beginning of the year. Spotify’s stock is down more than 12.5 percent and is trading at $84.98 as of this writing. Image credit: dlxmedia, Alexander Shatov
