Spotify raises price from $12.99 to $14.99

Forums › Online streaming services › Spotify raises price from $12.99 to $14.99

MrIrish

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# 208078 25-Jan-2017 21:55

Myself and a few friends just got an email from Spotify letting us know that they will put the price up from $12.99 to $14.99 because of New Zealand beginning to charge overseas companies GST.

I personally think it's an interesting move from Spotify when music streaming services are so competitive at the moment.

I'll update when an official news report has reported it.

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# 1709648 25-Jan-2017 21:57

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Yeah I got it too. I am not sure I use it enough to warrant $15 a month. Trying to decide on my alternatives. Spotify has such a massive catalog. I like Amazon and am already a prime member, and it's pretty cheap for me to get their music unlimited thing, but I am unsure of the respective catalog sizes.

ScuL

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# 1709653 25-Jan-2017 22:11

Glad I have an overseas account :)

Gigabit

dafman

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# 1709656 25-Jan-2017 22:14

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You Tube red. In addition to Google Play Music (arguably as good as Spotify) plus it gives you ad-free access to You Tube and ability to download You Tube for offline viewing.

dfnt

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# 1709671 25-Jan-2017 22:37

Wonder what Spark will do given Spotify is bundled with some of their plans

Irony much, weren't they pushing for GST on overseas online services?

Peppery

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# 1709697 25-Jan-2017 23:25

I've been a paying user for 5 years now. I use Spotify heavily, and while I can afford the increase I'm not sure if I'm happy with it on principle.

Think I may give Apple Music a try now, with my uni email it's $6.49 a month so a significant saving there.

mattwnz

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# 1709711 26-Jan-2017 00:26

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nas:

Wonder what Spark will do given Spotify is bundled with some of their plans

Irony much, weren't they pushing for GST on overseas online services?

Businesses can claim back the GST. So if they are buying it, I presume it won't cost them more after they claim back the GST.

I really hate how companies send those sorts of letters/emails, where they have a heading that the 'Price is changing' . Almost always the price is going up, so why don't they just say, prices are increasing. I have always used the free version which is ok. I find Pandora far better, and Apple music is also built into the iphone so it is a better experience. They may have underestimated the effect of what effect a price increase may have on NZ subscribers.

Lostja

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# 1709713 26-Jan-2017 00:34

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From memory this is the first price increase since I joined about 5 years ago, still pretty good value.

Hammerer

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# 1709714 26-Jan-2017 01:40

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We're on Premium for Family which increases from $19.99 to $22.50. For a few users it's not too bad and I won't be changing because of it.

dazhann

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# 1709728 26-Jan-2017 07:30

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If spotify is adding gst to its plans won't the rest of the streaming services be doing it as well?

huckster

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# 1709748 26-Jan-2017 08:30

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mattwnz:

I really hate how companies send those sorts of letters/emails, where they have a heading that the 'Price is changing' . Almost always the price is going up, so why don't they just say, prices are increasing. I have always used the free version which is ok. I find Pandora far better, and Apple music is also built into the iphone so it is a better experience. They may have underestimated the effect of what effect a price increase may have on NZ subscribers.

[Old Fart Rant]

The thing I hate is when they do the above AND don't include what the current price is. Power and Insurance companies are the worst for this - you have to dig out an old bill to compare the rates.

[\Old Fart Rant]

dclegg

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# 1709754 26-Jan-2017 08:50

Hammerer:

We're on Premium for Family which increases from $19.99 to $22.50. For a few users it's not too bad and I won't be changing because of it.

We're in the same boat.

I've tried both Spotify and Apple Music, and Spotify works best for me. I particularly love the way you can control a Spotify instance from elsewhere. I primarily use it to listen to music during the day. This is on an instance of Spotify on our sluggish old iMac. But this sluggishness isn't an issue when I can control it from my iPhone or laptop.

What I do find interesting is the timing of this email. We only subscribed towards the end of December. Wasn't GST meant to be applied to online accounts from Oct 1 last year, or am I mis-remembering that?

jonathan18

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# 1709792 26-Jan-2017 09:20

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dazhann:

If spotify is adding gst to its plans won't the rest of the streaming services be doing it as well?

Netflix already has - their prices went up in the last few months. As with Spotify, existing subscribers were given a delay until the increase took effect.

I still think Spotify offers good enough value - the family version gives us five separate accounts for $20 (to be $22.50) meaning each of us has exactly the same product as individuals pay $13 (15) for. And it doesn't hurt quite as bad given the increase is going to the NZ Govt not the company itself...

Interestingly, the full GST cost hasn't been added to the family account - that would be closer to $23 - whereas the individual plan increase matches up with the GST increase.

NonprayingMantis

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# 1709797 26-Jan-2017 09:22

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nas:

Wonder what Spark will do given Spotify is bundled with some of their plans

Irony much, weren't they pushing for GST on overseas online services?

It will actually benefit them.

they don't pay GST on B2B transactions, and since they give it away for $0, and 15% of $0 is still $0, they won't have to change anything.

The only thing that changes for Spark is that the "value" they now give away is now $2 more without it costing them a cent. this price increase will cause quite a few people to consider switching to Spark to get it for free.

Amiibro

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# 1709850 26-Jan-2017 10:14

Huh, interesting move. Unsurprising, I guess, but it doesn't really inspire me to finally take the plunge and sign up. Those ads are annoying, but they're not $14.99 a month annoying :P

vexxxboy

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# 1709857 26-Jan-2017 10:21

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/88779921/spotify-blames-price-hike-on-gst-despite-claiming-it-had-always-charged-it

Common sense is not as common as you think.

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