Ryan Haines/Android Authority
TL;DR
- Spotify is cutting subscription prices by 30% in the key market with an estimated 70 million users.
- This price cut reverses last year’s price increase.
- This comes just months after a $1 increase in the US and just as Spotify is exploring the possibility of a similar price increase in Ireland.
But in a surprising turn of events, Spotify looks to be slashing its prices by nearly 30% in another major market.
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Spotify recently revised its pricing in India, where the cost of the monthly standard plan has been reduced from Rs. 199 ($2.08) to Rs. ₹139 ($1.49) per month. While this is already very attractive compared to what customers pay in the US or some other parts of the world, Spotify is also offering a limited-time introductory offer that brings the price down even further to Rs. ₹99 ($1.03) for the first three months, even though this offer is only available to first-time customers.
How about putting those prices into perspective with US price increases?
Additionally, Spotify has reduced the price of its student plan to Rs. ₹69 ($0.72) per month. Meanwhile, the price of the Platinum tier, which features Hi-Fi playback and support for three family accounts, remains unchanged. At the same time, Spotify has removed the “Lite” plan, which offered ad-free playback but lower audio quality (up to 160 kbps) and no support for downloading music for offline playback.
This change essentially cancels previous price increases in the country, which may affect subscription purchases. It is unclear whether existing customers will be brought back to the new price or will need to cancel their plans and re-subscribe.
Notably, YouTube Music and Apple Music are available as free carrier bundles, making them viable options for anyone who isn’t heavily tied to Spotify and is open to switching. Meanwhile, India accounts for about 10% of Spotify’s global user base of 761 million, making it an important market for growing its user numbers, if not for revenue.
In January, when Spotify announced a $1 price increase in the US, it said the increased prices would allow it to “continue to provide the best possible experience and benefit artists.” This logic may not suit India, which is a price-sensitive market with extremely cheap internet plans.
While Spotify’s latest price cuts make it more attractive to Indian users, these changes are unlikely to extend to the US. However, we expect this to set a new trend to reverse recent price changes in at least some of the more competitive markets.
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