Is Spotify Premium Still Worth The Price In 2024?

Most things get more expensive over time. That is the case for most of the products that we replace and services that we pay for on a regular basis, including streaming services. Spotify recently announced a price hike for its premium subscription, which reportedly is the second one to happen within the year.

Beginning July 2024, Spotify Premium plan subscribers in the U.S. should receive an email notification explaining the new cost of their chosen membership. The standard Spotify Premium Individual plan pricing will change from $10.99 to $11.99 per month. Meanwhile, subscribers to Spotify's Premium Duo and Premium Family plans — previously set at $14.99 and $16.99 per month respectively — will now have to shell out $16.99 and $19.99 per month subsequently to keep enjoying the service. Only the Spotify Premium Student plan remains untouched, still available at $5.99 monthly. If you're already a Premium subscriber, price changes won't take effect until July, while new users will have to already pay for the membership upgrade using the updated pricing scheme.

Considering the significant price bump — especially if you hold one of the premium group subscription plans — you may be wondering if staying a Spotify Premium member is still a good investment. The answer to that will depend on a number of factors.

Spotify has several useful features that'll help you discover and enjoy new music and podcasts on the platform with more ease, some of it available only through a Premium subscription. You can play tracks ad-free and in your preferred order, download tracks for offline listening, use Spotify's AI DJ, and jam with your friends, among other things. You can also download and listen to certain audiobooks on Spotify, as every Premium subscriber or plan manager has 15 hours of free audiobook access a month, with the option of buying more time.

Although other platforms may offer similar features, there are two main factors that could affect your decision to keep your premium membership to Spotify. First, the monthly cost and whether you can afford it alongside other things that you pay for. Second, the amount of time you spend using the app.

One of the things that Spotify has in spades is convenience due to its massive catalog, which is a good thing for people who don't want to app-hop. In addition, the interface is easy to use and the experience of switching from one playback device to another is pretty seamless.

If you've logged in years of listening on Spotify with a Premium plan and are sufficiently happy with your experience on the platform thus far, then staying put for now could be the way to go. If, however, the idea of moving playlists you've personally curated over to a different platform and learning to navigate a new user interface doesn't sound like a huge hassle to you, then you ought to at least explore other options for a month or two and figure out if your listening habits fit a non-Spotify mold.

If you're using Spotify's recent price hike as an excuse to bail and find an alternative that offers better audio quality — to date, Spotify's Hi-Fi plan is still nowhere in sight — we have a roundup of the best music streaming services for Hi-Fi audio, which includes Apple Music, one of Spotify's biggest competitors. Incidentally, as of this writing, Apple Music — which was previously more expensive per month than Spotify — seems to have not changed its monthly costs for its individual and family plans since its 2022 price hike. So, if you're interested in giving the service a whirl, now would be a good time. It's also one of the few Apple apps that's also available on Google Play, so if you use an Android mobile device to listen to audio tracks, this could be one of your better options.

If cost is mostly what's driving you to ditch Spotify and your Premium plan on it, there are several music platforms you can look into that are currently more affordable. One of the more notable ones is YouTube Music, which offers individual and family premium plans for $10.99 and $16.99 a month respectively, both with a one-month free trial for new users. Apart from being able to listen to songs ad-free and download tracks offline, you can easily switch from audio to video with a quick tap.

Another cheaper alternative is Amazon Music. The individual and family Unlimited plans are priced at $9.99 and $16.99 per month subsequently, also with a one-month free trial for new users. This could be a good pick for audiophiles who want to listen to music in high- and ultra-high definition and even experience certain songs with spatial audio using compatible headphones and speakers.