Spotify has announced the increase in its prices in France to pass on the streaming tax. We are less far away than the predicted catastrophe, and that is undoubtedly intentional.
Spotify warned a few weeks ago. The music streaming service intended to pass on to its users the amount of the streaming tax now applied to music platforms. Finally, we learned this Tuesday the amount of Spotify’s new prices and it is relatively reassuring.
As reported by the site iGenerationthe Spotify subscription page in France now displays the new prices for its various offers, less than a year after its last increase:
- Personal Premium subscription: 11.12 euros per month (+13 cents, or +1.18%)
- Premium student subscription: 6.06 euros per month (+7 cents, or +1.17%)
- Premium Duo subscription: 15.17 euros per month (+18 cents, or +1.2%)
- Premium Family subscription: 18.21 euros per month (+22 cents, or +1.22%)
While Spotify had announced that the increase in prices would make the French market the one with the “highest package in the European Union», some feared that this increase would be several euros. As a reminder, Finnish Spotify users are entitled to a personal Premium package worth 11.99 euros per month.
A relatively controlled increase and a good communication move
This is ultimately not the case and the price increase remains relatively controlled for users, between 1.18 and 1.22%. In fact, the new amounts seem particularly precise and for good reason: they simply reflect the amount of the tax, without any additional increase. As a reminder, the streaming tax is set at a rate of 1.2% of the amount, excluding VAT, of the price paid by users.
This is ultimately a good communication move for Spotify which, after having prepared its users for a massive increase in the price of its package, ultimately offers a fairly small increase overall. Enough to reassure its subscribers who should not flee the service en masse. Let us remember, however, that the Swedish platform is the only one to pass on the amount of this tax to its users, while all its competitors have so far chosen to amortize it.
The service also warns its users in an email sent this Tuesday: “Going forward, further increases to the CNM tax will be reflected in our pricing plans in France and we will continue to urge the government to find alternative means of this funding“.