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The streaming service confirmed its first price hike since 2022, with standard subscriptions now at $11.99 per month.
On Friday, streaming service Apple Music confirmed a $1 price hike, its first price hike since 2022.
“As a result of higher licensing costs, Apple Music is increasing the price of its subscription starting today,” Apple said in a statement.
The standard Premium subscription will now cost $11.99 per month, according to Apple’s website, while the Family plan has risen by $3 from $16.99 to $19.99. Its student plan has gone up $6.99 per month.
The new pricing still puts Apple Music at $1 per month less than its main competitor Spotify, whose cheapest premium plan comes in at $12.99. Spotify confirmed the price hike of its own in January as well. However, Spotify’s premium subscription also includes 15 hours per month of audiobooks. (This audiobook offering has been controversial in the music publishing industry, as the package allows Spotify to pay a lower royalty rate to songwriters.)
There is no doubt that rising prices frustrate consumers, and the change we are witnessing today is likely to be no different. However, industry stakeholders, including major record labels, have been calling for higher fees for streaming services for years, whether to account for inflation or to plug the gap with what they say remains an undervalued product, as what amounts to the cost of a single CD now gives customers access to hundreds of millions of songs.
The last time Apple raised its price on Apple Music was on October 22, and it also raised the price of Apple TV+ at that time. Likewise, Apple attributed higher music prices in 2022 to higher licensing costs.
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