Spotify and Netflix are hiking prices again, with Australians now forking out hundreds of dollars more for once budget-friendly streaming services. Another round of price rises has been enough for under-pressure subscribers to walk away from the services.
Spotify announced its latest round of price hikes to customers via email this week, noting the increase was needed so it could “continue to innovate on our product offerings and features and bring users the best experience”. Spotify Premium subscriptions will increase from $13.99 to $15.99 a month for individual plans and $23.99 to $27.99 a month for family plans from September.
As Yahoo’s Tom Flanagan wrote today, the latest Spotify hike has him asking if it’s time to pull the plug on one of his many subscriptions.
RELATED
“While the supermarkets cop the worst of the anger from Aussies, it seems just about everyone is trying to squeeze an extra dollar or two out of us at a time people are having to keep a really close eye on their budgets,” he said.
Netflix announced the cost increase of its three subscription tiers last week.
A standard plan with ads will jump from $7.99 to $9.99 per month, standard plans without ads will rise from $18.99 to $20.99 per month, and premium plans will go from $24.99 to $28.99 per month.
Kayo Sports also raised the price of its standard tier from $25 to $30 a month in June, while Stan Sport increased from $15 to $20 a month in July.
The majority of Australians have at least one streaming service and pay about $50 a month for the pleasure, according to Finder research.
Do you have a story to share? Contact tamika.seeto@yahooinc.com
Finder personal finance expert Taylor Blackburn told Yahoo Finance the combined cost of the most popular services had increased by $17, or an 11 per cent jump, between March and August.
“It’s definitely worth giving your subscriptions a health check. If you have four subscriptions, you could easily be paying $20 more a month with these changes – or $240 more per year,” Blackburn said.
Finder analysis found you would be paying $1,087 per year if you subscribed to the top eight TV streaming services — HBO Max, Netflix, Stan, Disney+, Prime Video, Binge, Paramount Plus, Apple TV and Hayu.
The average Aussie is spending $47 a month on streaming services, Finder found.