Spotify may be planning to hike prices on its most loyal listeners

Summary

Spotify and Universal Music Group have announced a new multi-year agreement which could result in a new “Super-Premium” subscription tier.
Possible perks of this tier include early access to music and deluxe editions and high-res audio.
It’s all part of Universal’s plan for a new era of streaming dubbed “Streaming 2.0.”

Spotify is one of the most popular music streaming apps on the planet, and its new partnership could result in a new era for the platform.

Spotify and Universal Music Group (UMG) recently announced a new multi-year agreement, which could make Universal’s Streaming 2.0 vision a reality. While the press release didn’t get into too many specifics, it does say the agreement is meant to “advance the next era of streaming innovation,” which could result in new more expensive subscription tiers on Spotify offering extra benefits and perks for “superfans.”

“For nearly two decades, Spotify has made good on its commitment to return the music industry to growth, ensuring that we deliver record payouts to the benefit of artists and songwriters each new year.” said Spotify’s Founder and CEO, Daniel Ek, in a press release. “This partnership ensures we can continue to deliver on this promise by embracing the certainty that constant innovation is key to making paid music subscriptions even more attractive to a broader audience of fans around the world.”

Spotify

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Hit the right setting for your location by embracing base volume.

What is Streaming 2.0?

Apparently, the future of music streaming means paying more

Universal Music Group

Last year, Universal Music Group presented its investors with the idea of “Streaming 2.0,” which is essentially a new monetization method aimed at devoted music listeners. The idea includes developing a “Super-Premium” subscription tier, allowing fans to pay extra to receive perks such as early access to music and deluxe editions, high-res audio, listening party invites, and artist Q&A sessions.

“When we first presented our vision for the next stage in the evolution of music subscription several months ago — Streaming 2.0 — this is precisely the kind of partnership development we envisioned.” said UMG’s CEO Sir Lucian Grainge in a press release.

The exact terms and length of the deal were not announced, and it’s unclear when or if Spotify will implement a more expensive subscription tier in line with the ideas of Streaming 2.0. The deal does reportedly include increased royalty rates for songwriters. Last June, Spotify increased the price of its Premium subscription to $12 a month, so if it introduces a new “Super-Premium” tier, it will likely be priced somewhat above that.