The era of cheap streaming seems over, as dozens of services have hiked their prices this year.
Disney CEO Bob Iger announced this week that his streaming platform would raise prices for the second time in less than a year, boosting the ad-free Disney+ plan from $10.99 to $13.99 per month. in October.
Music streaming platform Spotify also confirmed last month that it would charge 10% more, bumping its Premium plan from $9.99 to $10.99 per month.
This comes as a growing number of streaming platforms stop offering tons of content to subscribers at low, one-time prices – amid growing competition in the industry landscape. Many services have also promised to crack down on password sharing in an effort to increase their profits.
Here, DailyMail.com explains which platforms are due for a price hike this year – and by how much.
The era of cheap streaming seems over as dozens of services hiked their prices this year
Disney+
Disney announced this week that it is increasing the price of its ad-free plan by 27%, effective October 12.
The company also increased the price of its trio pack of Disney+, ad-free, Hulu ad-free, and ESPN+ with ads to $24.99 per month from $19.99 per month.
Disney+ launched in 2019 for the low price of $6.99. The company increased the cost by $3 per month last year.
At the time, CEO Iger said, “We were pleasantly surprised that the loss of subscriptions, due to what was a substantial price increase for the non-ad-supported Disney+ product, was de minimis.
“It was a loss, but it was relatively small. This leads us to believe that we do, in fact, have price elasticity.
Disney will increase the price of the ad-free Disney+ subscription to $13.99 per month and plans to launch a premium duo with Hulu ad-free for $19.99. Pictured: CEO Bob Iger
Iger also revealed that the company is now following in the footsteps of rival Netflix in prioritizing ways to turn those who use other people’s accounts into paying customers.
“We are actively exploring ways to address account sharing and the best options for paying subscribers to share their accounts with friends and family,” he said on a quarterly earnings call from Disney on August 9.
Hulu
Disney-owned TV and movie subscription service Hulu will also see its prices rise from $14.99 per month to $17.99 per month for its ad-free tier in October, a 20-year jump. %.
However, Disney has announced that it will be offering a savings of $12 per month for those who wish to subscribe to both Disney+ and Hulu – with a new joint offer of $19.99.
Spotify
The popular music streaming service announced in July that it was increasing its prices, increasing its Premium Single fee by 10% from $9.99 to $10.99.
It also increased its Duo plan to $14.99, its Family plan to $16.99, and the Student plan to $5.99.
Existing Spotify subscribers were notified by email and given a one-month grace period before the new price took effect – unless they canceled first.
Spotify announced earlier this year that it was raising its prices, increasing its Premium Single charge by 10%
Paramount+
Paramount+, which hosts shows such as Yellowjackets and Billions, also hiked its prices by 20% in June, raising its ad-free tier from $9.99 to $11.99.
As part of its integration with Showtime, it has also raised the price of its existing ad-supported essential plan from $4.99 to $5.99 per month.
Peacock
NBCUniversal’s streaming platform has also increased its ad-free premium plus plan by 20%, from $9.99 per month to $11.99.
Its ad-supported tier, meanwhile, also dropped from $4.99 to $5.99 last month.
The service, which has around 22 million subscribers, suffered a loss of $704 million before interest and tax in the first quarter of this year – and spent more on live sports and original content.
Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, HBO Max and Amazon Music have all hiked prices this year amid increased competition
HBO Max
HBO Max, also known as Max, also started charging $15.99 for its ad-free offering in January this year, a jump of nearly 7% from its previous price of $14.99. .
“This one-dollar price increase will allow us to continue to invest in providing even more cultural programming and improving the customer experience for all users,” the company said in a statement.
Amazon Music
In January, Amazon Music increased its price by 10%, from $9.99 to $10.99.
Netflix and Apple TV+
While Netflix didn’t explicitly raise prices, it dumped its low-cost, ad-free plan for new US customers last month.
This means consumers must choose between a $15.49 “standard” ad-free monthly plan, a $19.99 premium ad-free plan for up to four simultaneous streams, or an ad-supported plan at $6.99. $.
Apple TV+, meanwhile, increased its prices by 40% in October last year, from $4.99 to $6.99 per month – the service first price increase since its launch in 2019.
