Happy summer, your favorite streamers cost even more now
Spotify, Max, and Peacock are all instituting price hikes in the next few months
One of the greatest joys of the months getting warmer is getting to spend time outside with friends, listening to the summery music or talking about that great new Sunday show all of you are watching. But while the conversation might be free, the song or that show definitely isn’t. In fact, they’ll soon cost you even more on average, as Max, Spotify, and Peacock are all planning yet another round of price hikes to hit at various points throughout this summer. Hooray!
Max announced their increase today, which is effective… today. Maybe they were hoping the fiery hype over House Of The Dragon’s season two premiere later this month would drown out the announcement? Per The Hollywood Reporter, the streamer’s ad-free plan will increase $1 to $16.99 per month. The Ultimate ad-free tier (which includes more devices, downloads, etc.) will also increase $1 to $20.99 per month, with the yearly versions of these plans increasing by $20 and $10 to $169.99 and $209.99 respectively. There may be a war between Green and Black brewing in Westeros, but this feels like an equally violent strike in the real world.
Spotify also announced yesterday that they were increasing their rates for the second time this year. The service’s Premium Individual plan is also raising $1 to $11.99 per month, while the Premium Family plan is hiking from $16.99 to $19.99 per month. The Premium Duo plan, which offers two accounts, falls in the middle with a $2 raise to $16.99 per month (via Variety). In 2023, Spotify raised its subscription prices for the first time in over a decade. Previously, the Premium Individual plan cost $9.99 per month.
But that’s not all. While they announced it back in April (via The Verge), Peacock is also raising prices this summer, just in time for the Paris Olympics which air exclusively on the platform. Both its ad-supported and ad-free plans are increasing by $2, which raises them to $13.99 and $7.99 respectively. These changes are set to take effect July 18th for new customers—a.k.a., those who don’t care about Peacock originals Ted or Apples Never Fall but rightfully want to watch Simone Biles flip her way back to world domination—while current subscribers won’t see the increase until August 17th. If you’re wondering whether that’s really just in time for the Olympics, the answer is yes: the opening ceremony will be held one short week later on July 26. It may be a hot girl summer, but it’s also going to be a broke girl summer if this trend continues.