“The wait is finally over”, cheered Spotify’s VP of Subscriptions, Gustav Gyllenhammar. A sentence that sounds like something plucked out of a PR handbook while simultaneously conveying an unusual sense of openness: Yes, it has indeed been a long wait. Lossless quality was supposed to be added to the range in 2021, but the function only became a reality in September. No sooner had the increase in subscription fees been implemented than this audio upgrade followed. Coincidence? Quite possibly. Calculated? We cannot rule that out. What seems certain, however, is that the streaming service — and above all, its investors — are clearly still not satisfied.

Spotify: How High Can the Price Go?

Users have been paying up to $3.29 a month since the last price increase. Some reacted in a flash, canceling their subscriptions and migrating to alternative services. However, Spotify’s headquarters seems to have realized that the exodus remained manageable and many subscribers willingly accepted the new price structure. Hence, there is some wiggle room for other shenanigans. Pressure from major record labels continues to increase, though. For months, they have been urging Spotify, Apple Music, and the rest of the streaming industry to raise their subscription prices. Their argument? Everything is getting more expensive, except music. And a music subscription is largely a bargain compared to Netflix and other video streaming services anyway.

→ Like Spotify, But Free: The Lesser Known Alternative

A single Premium subscription currently costs $11.99 in the US. At the beginning, it was just $9.99, which felt like an eternity ago. The discussion about further price increases is no coincidence: the boom in the music industry, which lasted for over a decade, has lost noticeable momentum. Last year, global sales growth halved. At the most recent earnings announcement, designated co-CEO Alex Norström put it soberly: “We will act when the time is right for each specific market, and we’ll do it at the appropriate price based on those market dynamics.” In other words, it remains to be seen when Spotify will increase its prices once again — and by how much. One thing is certain: the end of price inflation remains a distant dream.

Free Alternatives? Yes, They’ve Been Around for a While

Streaming services like Spotify have fundamentally changed the way we consume music. Where you used to pay $10 or more for a single album, you can now access almost the entire history of music for the price of a CD — anytime, anywhere. And yet, in times where inflation runs rampant, even $12 a month seems like a lot to many people suddenly. Savings are also being made by sacrificing audio and video streaming services. Yet, free alternatives to Spotify and its competitors have long existed — and sans advertising to boot.