Neil Cybart 7/29/24 Neil Cybart 7/29/24

Spotify 2Q24 Earnings, Spotify vs. Apple Music

Happy Monday. This will be a busy week for earnings. We will begin preparing for Apple’s earnings release tomorrow. For today’s update, we focus on Spotify. It’s actually been nearly a year since we took a closer look at Spotify's financial performance. Let’s jump in.

Spotify 2Q24 Earnings

We will use a different method to quickly recap Spotify’s 2Q24 results. Here were year-over-year changes for several key line items that made up Spotify's 2Q24 income statement:

Revenue: +$630M (to $4.1B)
Cost of revenue: +$284M (to $2.9B) - for growth to come in less than revenue suggests better music licensing terms and improved monetization

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Neil Cybart 6/3/24 Neil Cybart 6/3/24

Spotify Raises U.S. Prices…Again, Spotify’s Sneaky Audiobook Move, Apple’s Opportunity

Happy Monday.

Spotify is raising prices in the U.S. for the second time in a year. Back in April, over at Inside Orchard, I discussed how Spotify is being pulled in different directions as its advertising apparatus comes in weaker than management hoped.

For today’s discussion, we are going to take things in a different direction as there are some changes in the music streaming landscape that Apple can take advantage of.

Let's jump right in.

Spotify Raises U.S. Prices…Again

Here’s Variety:

“Spotify is hiking rates for its monthly streaming plans in the U.S. for the second time in a year.

The Spotify Premium Individual plan is increasing by $1, from $10.99 to $11.99 per month, according to the company’s updated price listings. The Premium Family plan, which provides access for up to six members a household, is going up by $3, from $16.99 to $19.99 per month.

In the U.S. — Spotify’s biggest market — the company raised prices on its subscription plans in July 2023, the first time it had increased rates since launching in the country in 2011.

‘As we continue to grow our platform, we are updating our Premium prices so that we can keep innovating in changing market conditions,’ the company says in an FAQ about the price increases on its customer-service site. ‘These updates will help us continue delivering value to fans.’”

Even though this latest price increase had been rumored for the past few months, a June effective date is earlier than expected. We will go over what looks to be a big driver behind these price hikes shortly.

Price increases have become the norm across the streaming landscape. On social media, pushback to price hikes have been mixed.

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