The era of cheap streaming seems to be over, as numerous services have increased their prices this year.
Disney CEO Bob Iger announced this week that his streaming platform will increase its prices for the second time in less than a year, increasing Disney+’s ad-free subscription from $10.99 to $13.99 in October. month.
Music streaming platform Spotify also confirmed last month that it would charge 10 percent more, increasing its Premium subscription from $9.99 to $10.99 per month.
It’s because more and more streaming platforms are ceasing to offer subscribers large amounts of content at low, one-size-fits-all prices — amid increasing competition across the industry landscape. Many services have also vowed to crack down on password sharing to boost profits.
Here, DailyMail.com explains which platforms will raise prices this year – and by how much.
The era of cheap streaming seems to be over, as numerous services have increased their prices this year
Disney+
Disney announced this week that it would increase the price of its ad-free subscription by 27 percent starting October 12.
The company also increased the price of its trio bundle of Disney+, which includes no commercials, ad-free Hulu, and ESPN+ with ads, from $19.99 a month to $24.99 a month.
Disney+ launched in 2019 at the low price of $6.99. The company increased costs by $3 per month last year.
At the time, CEO Iger said, “We were pleasantly surprised that the loss of subscribers, due to a substantial price increase for the non-ad-supported Disney+ product, was minimal.
“It was a loss, but it was relatively small. That leads us to believe that we do indeed have price elasticity.’
Disney is raising the price of an ad-free Disney+ subscription to $13.99 a 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 rival Netflix’s footsteps by prioritizing ways to convert those using other people’s accounts into paying customers.
“We are actively looking at ways to address account sharing and the best options for paying subscribers to share their accounts with friends and family,” he said during a call on Disney’s quarterly earnings on Aug. 9.
Hulu
Disney-owned TV and movie subscription service Hulu will also see its prices jump from $14.99 a month to $17.99 a month for its ad-free tier in October — a 20 percent jump.
However, Disney has announced that it will be offering $12 a month savings for those who want subscriptions to both Disney+ and Hulu – with a new $19.99 combined offering.
Spotify
The popular music streaming service announced in July that it was raising its prices, increasing its Premium Single rate by 10 percent from $9.99 to $10.99.
It also increased the Duo plan to $14.99, the Family plan to $16.99, and the Student plan to $5.99.
Existing Spotify subscribers were notified via email and given a one-month grace period before the new price took effect – unless they canceled in advance.
Spotify announced earlier this year that it was raising its prices and increasing its Premium Single rate by 10 percent
Paramount+
Paramount+, home to shows like Yellowjackets and Billions, also increased its prices by 20 percent in June, raising its ad-free tier from $9.99 to $11.99.
As part of its integration with Showtime, it also brought the price of its existing ad-supported essential subscription from $4.99 to $5.99 per month.
Peacock
NBCUniversal’s streaming platform also increased its premium plus ad-free plan by 20 percent from $9.99 per month to $11.99.
The ad-supported tier also increased from $4.99 to $5.99 last month.
The service, which has about 22 million subscribers, suffered a loss of $704 million before interest and taxes in the first quarter of this year — and has spent more on live sports and original content.
Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, HBO Max, and Amazon Music all raised their prices this year due to increased competition
HBO max
HBO Max, also known as Max, also started charging $15.99 for its ad-free offering in January of this year — an increase of nearly 7 percent from its previous price of $14.99.
“This $1 price increase allows us to continue to invest in providing even more culture-influencing programming and improving our customer experience for all users,” the company said in a statement.
Amazon music
In January, Amazon Music raised its price by 10 percent — from $9.99 to $10.99.
Netflix and Apple TV+
While Netflix hasn’t explicitly raised its prices, it did away with its low-cost, ad-free plan for new US customers last month.
This means consumers will have to choose from an ad-free “standard” monthly subscription of $15.49, an ad-free premium subscription of $19.99 for up to four simultaneous streams, or an ad-supported subscription of $6.99.
Meanwhile, Apple TV+ increased its prices by 40 percent last October, from $4.99 to $6.99 per month. first price increase since launch in 2019.