Your Spotify bill is about to go up again, even though the company is making record profits

Spotify is raising its subscription prices in the US again, even though the company is now making record profits. The price increase is happening over the next month for users in the US, Estonia, and Latvia. This makes Spotify the most expensive mainstream music streaming service available.

According to Android Police, every subscription plan is getting more expensive this time. If you have the Individual plan, you’ll pay $12.99 instead of $11.99. That’s a one-dollar increase, which may seem small, but it adds up when these price hikes keep happening.

Family plans are going up by $2, from $19.99 to $21.99. Duo plans are also increasing by $2, going from $16.99 to $18.99. Even student plans are getting a dollar increase, moving from $5.99 to $6.99. For now, only users in the US, Estonia, and Latvia will see these changes.

Spotify’s profits don’t justify another price increase for listeners

Spotify’s announcement about the price hike was very brief. They said they need to offer “the best possible experience” and want to “benefit artists.” However, these reasons don’t hold up well when you look at how much money the company is making.

The company has been profitable since around 2024. In the third quarter of 2025 alone, Spotify made over 500 million euros in operating income. This isn’t a struggling company that needs more money to survive. The platform continues to face criticism, especially after a massive music preservation effort caused controversy.

If you only listen to music, you’re losing value with these price increases. Spotify is spending huge amounts of money on audiobooks, offering 15 hours per month with subscriptions. They also spent a lot on exclusive podcast deals in the past. Like other tech companies, they’re also investing heavily in AI development.

These investments help Spotify keep users from switching to other services. But if you don’t use audiobooks or podcasts, you’re paying more for features you never touch. Many artists have used the streaming platform creatively for their work, but that doesn’t help music-only subscribers justify the cost. That’s a bad deal for regular listeners.

More people have been talking about leaving Spotify because of these constant price increases. Services like YouTube Music and Amazon Music are starting to look better, especially as Spotify keeps getting more expensive. Only you can decide if Spotify is still worth the money, but the company seems to be testing how much users will tolerate.