You are in all probability going to pay extra for Spotify in 2026

If you happen to’re a Spotify Premium subscriber, be ready for a worth hike in early 2026 that would hit your pockets.

In accordance with The Financial Times, Spotify plans to lift the value of its Premium subscription within the US within the first quarter of subsequent yr, citing sources accustomed to the matter. How a lot the rise can be is unknown, however JBMorgan analysts have reportedly projected {that a} $1-a-month rise within the US would generate $500 million in extra annual income for Spotify.

At present, a person Spotify Premium plan within the US prices $12 a month. Spotify final raised its subscription worth in July 2024, when it elevated from $11 to $12.

The rationale behind Spotify’s choice to hike costs within the US within the new yr is reportedly tied to market strain, as the corporate goals to enhance its inventory and exhibit indicators of profitability. Spotify’s inventory worth has grown by 30 p.c this yr, and Wall Avenue analysts see a US worth enhance as “important to Spotify’s inventory,” as reported by The Monetary Occasions.

Spotify has already increased prices in countries around the world earlier this yr, together with in Europe, South Asia, the Center East, Africa, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific area. In lots of European markets, Spotify’s worth rose by €1 to €12 a month. The US prevented this worth hike, however it appears its flip is coming in 2026.

Spotify has solely elevated its worth within the US twice

Spotify can also be going through strain from main document labels to extend costs

Spotify initially launched within the US 14 years in the past at $10 a month, and through its time working within the US, it has solely elevated costs twice: as soon as in July 2023 by $1 to $11 monthly, and, as I discussed earlier, as soon as in July 2024 by $1 to $12 monthly.

In comparison with video streaming providers like Netflix, Disney+, and HBO Max, which have constantly increased their prices, I’ve to confess that Spotify’s $2 month-to-month enhance over 14 years is sort of shocking. To be clear, I am not complaining about it; I take pleasure in my $12 Spotify Premium.

Disney+, for instance, it solely launched in 2019, but in six years, its worth has already risen a number of occasions, and fairly considerably. Disney+ initially price $7 a month and was ad-free. Now, for its ad-free plan, it is $16 a month, and for its ad-supported plan, it is $8 a month. I do know music streaming and video streaming aren’t precisely the identical, however it’s nonetheless fascinating to see how rapidly video streaming costs have elevated whereas music streaming costs have not moved a lot.

This results in one more reason Spotify may increase costs subsequent yr: it’s reportedly beneath strain from main document labels to extend costs, as they argue the price of music streaming providers like Spotify, Apple Music, and others has fallen behind inflation and that “subscriptions stay low cost” in comparison with video streaming providers like Netflix, based on the Monetary Occasions.

In its Q3 2025 earnings call earlier this month, Spotify’s co-president and incoming co-CEO, Alex Norström, spoke about US pricing, saying the corporate “will act when the time is true for every particular market, and we’ll do it on the acceptable worth primarily based on these market dynamics.”

Spotify hasn’t commented on the Monetary Occasions report, and no US worth enhance has been formally introduced by the corporate. Nonetheless, given the strain Spotify is beneath, and the way it’s already raised costs all over the world, it is onerous to see the US, its greatest market, not getting hit with a worth hike within the new yr.