On Tuesday, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek expressed a desire to raise prices in the U.S. for the first time. “I think we are ready to raise prices, I think we have the ability to do that, but it really comes down to those negotiations,” says Ek referring to talks with music industry stakeholders who have pushed for a price hike for some time now. The company recently reported a total revenue of $3.3 billion USD, up 14% from last year’s slump, Monthly active users were up 22% this year to over 515 million and premium subscribers grew by 15% to 210 million this quarter.
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Though the company is on an upward trend, the revenue was slightly lower than expected. With price increases in other countries showing little signs of driving away a substantial number of customers, Spotify is encouraged to do the same in the U.S. “We did raise prices in 46 different locations and markets last year, and even in those markets we were still outperforming,” said Ek. “I feel really good about our ability to raise prices over time and we have lots of data now that backs that up. We may have been marginally helped by being a lower-cost provider, but it isn’t a primary part of our strategy and it’s not something that we’re thinking about.” “Instead, we’re working with our label partners to work … to figure out what’s the best opportunity to do that. And that’s a more complex trade,” Ek continues. “When the timing’s right we will raise it.”
Stay tuned for more details.
