Spotify is set to raise the cost of its Premium Individual plan starting in September 2025, targeting users in multiple regions, including Nigeria, the rest of Africa, South Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, and parts of Europe and Asia-Pacific.
The price, which was increased earlier in the U.S., will move from €10.99 to €11.99 per month, an increase the company says is necessary to support ongoing development and maintain user experience.
Premium subscribers will be notified directly by email, according to Spotify. “Thank you for being a valued Premium subscriber. Starting on your billing date in September, your subscription price will change from 10,99 €/month to 11,99 €/month,” the company stated.
The message also reminds users that they are free to cancel if they no longer wish to continue under the revised rate.
While the price bump may rattle users in inflation-hit regions, investors are reading it differently. Spotify’s shares rose around 3% in premarket trading after the announcement.
Year-to-date, the stock has surged by nearly 40%, buoyed by the company’s tightening grip on profitability after years of expansion and experimentation.
Just weeks earlier, Spotify admitted it would fall short of profit expectations for the quarter due to increased tax obligations related to staff salaries. It’s a shift many saw coming as Spotify trims costs and recalibrates its business model. Staff layoffs, podcast budget cuts, and stricter platform rules have all formed part of this drive.
Still, the push for margin improvement is only one part of the bigger picture. Behind the scenes, Spotify is battling a deeper problem, which is artificial streaming. This refers to the manipulation of streaming numbers by bots or coordinated click farms. The company has taken a firm stance.
“We know how frustrating it can be if you’re caught up in any of this. That’s why we’re investing heavily in tech and resources to detect artificial streams and enforcing policies quickly to deter bad actors. This is something we take seriously at every level, all around the world. And our efforts are working,” said Bryan Johnson, Spotify’s Head of Artist & Industry Partnerships, International.
Johnson also confirmed that when “significant artificial streaming is detected,” labels and distributors would be charged per track. The cost of these penalties could ultimately be passed down to artists, many of whom may have been unaware of the illegitimate streaming activity in the first place.
Andreea Gleeson, CEO of Tunecore, reiterated this warning: “It’s very, very important that we protect the ecosystem so that artists with legitimate listeners benefit from their hard work. Our goal is to get more money into the pockets of real artists with real fans.”
That goal has seen huge progress in Nigeria. According to recent reports, Nigerian artists earned over ₦58 billion in royalties from Spotify in 2024, more than double what they made in 2023, and a fivefold increase from 2022.
