Spotify has been racing to keep its music streaming service attractive in the face of increasing competition. In addition to constantly adding features to make its service more interesting, the company is rumored to be launching a “super-premium” tier for its subscribers. As the title suggests, suggestsThat plan would cost more than a conventional subscription and would introduce higher-quality streaming for those who pay more. Rumors began last year and gained momentum in April of this year. Now, the company’s CEO has confirmed that such a plan is coming soon.
Daniel Ek confirms the arrival of a Spotify Deluxe plan for $17-18
Spotify’s Premium subscription has been officially confirmed during the company’s latest earnings conference. Spotify CEO Daniel Ek said that the company plans to offer such a plan, which for now is still in its “early stages.” Here’s how Daniel Ek describes this plan:
“It probably costs around $17 or $18, but it’s kind of a deluxe version of Spotify that has all the benefits of this regular version of Spotify, but a lot more control and a lot higher quality in every aspect.”
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We don’t yet know what kind of controls and features Spotify will include for those who pay more, but it will certainly justify the deal. It’s an interesting move, after all, Spotify is going in the opposite direction and offering a premium plan instead of a cheaper one. Perhaps this is explained by the fact that Spotify doesn’t face many restrictions with the current price of its standard plan.
Spotify reached 246 million paying subscribers in the second quarter of this year (April through June), up 12% compared to the second quarter of 2023. The company added 7 million paying subscribers compared to the same quarter last year, beating forecasts by 1 million and sending Spotify shares up as much as 14% in pre-market trading early today. In total, Spotify has about 626 million active users, up 14% from the same quarter last year.
Free ad-supported plan will continue in emerging markets
According to Daniel Ek, Spotify will continue to use ad-supported free plans in developing markets. He says that “engagement is different in these markets, as are the channels to acquire them, and conversion to paid plans may be a bit slower.” Spotify plans to increase its marketing efforts in those places and add more benefits to the free offering.