Spotify climbs premarket after music-streamer raises U.S. premium plan prices

Investing.com -- Shares in Spotify (NYSE: SPOT) jumped in premarket U.S. trading on Monday after the music-streaming service announced that it had raised the prices of its premium offering in the U.S.

On a monthly basis, an individual subscription to Spotify's premium plan in the U.S. will now cost $11.99, up from $10.99. Its duo plan is now set at $16.99 a month from $14.99, while its family plan will run consumers $19.99 instead of its prior price of $16.99.

The premium service includes access across Spotify's functionalities, and accounts for much of its revenue.

In an email cited by Reuters, Spotify defended the cost hikes, saying they will help the company invest in developing its products and features. The Swedish group has also recently reined in marketing expenditures and laid off workers in a bid to bolster margins.

Spotify reported quarterly gross profit above 1 billion euros for the first time ever in April, but the reduced marketing spending weighed on its number of monthly active users.

You May Also Be Interested In

• Tesla Q2 deliveries crush forecasts at 480,126, erasing backlog concerns
• Blackstone’s QTS said to abandon Virginia data center project
• US legal sector adds 5,100 jobs in June, hits record high