Spotify to hike prices by up to £24 a year – here's how you can cut costs

It's the third price increase in two years for those paying for Spotify Premium after it upped prices by £1 in 2023, and then again by up to £2 last April.

Spotify is hiking the prices of three of its Premium plans

These price changes impact both new and existing customers – though we're triple checking if it also applies if you took out Spotify via a third party, for example your mobile provider (we'll update this story when we know more). Here's what's happening:

When the change kicks in depends on your billing date

• Existing paid-for subscriber? You'll be charged the new price from your next billing date after 22 October 2025. Your billing date depends on the day you subscribed to Spotify.

• On a free trial? You'll pay the old price for one month after your trial ends. After that, you'll pay the new price.

• New subscriber? You'll start paying the new price straight away.

How to cut costs if you want to stick with Spotify

If you're unhappy about Spotify prices rising but still want access to the music streaming service, there are a number of options to consider to cut costs:

• On the Individual Premium plan? Save £36 by paying for a year upfront with a gift card. When we checked on Tuesday 4 November, we found Argos and Currys offering digital gift cards that give you 12 months' of Individual Premium for £120. This is a £35.88 saving based on the new effective annual cost of £155.88.
  
  You can redeem the gift card in your Spotify account – the prepaid period will start on your next billing date, at which point your regular monthly payments will stop (they'll restart once the 12 months has ended). Make sure to use the gift card straight away to minimise the risk of forgetting about it or the issuer going belly up.
  
  Note that gift cards can ONLY be redeemed on the standard Individual Premium plan – so unfortunately this tip doesn't work if you're on a 'Duo', 'Family' or 'Student' Premium plan, or any of the 'Basic' plans. It also won't work if you pay for the 'Audiobooks+' add-on (which gives you extra audiobook listening hours).

• Downgrade your Spotify package. If you're on the 'Family' subscription for up to six people, yet only two of you use the service, you can save £4 a month by switching to 'Duo'. Equally, if your 'Duo' account is only used by one person, you can switch to an 'Individual' account to save £5 a month.
  
  It could also be worth downgrading to one of Spotify's 'Basic' plans – if you can. Introduced last year for eligible existing subscribers, 'Basic' plans are slightly cheaper than 'Premium' plans and, aside from the price, the only difference is they don't include audiobook access.
  
  However these plans aren't available to everyone and Spotify has remained tight-lipped about its eligibility criteria. But if you are eligible and don't mind losing audiobook access, then it could be worth switching.

• Consider the free version of Spotify. Spotify has confirmed that it will continue to offer its free service, but be warned that most songs will be played on shuffle and you'll have to listen to adverts.

How to cut music streaming costs if you're happy to leave Spotify

If you're unhappy about the changes and want to leave Spotify, you have a few options:

• Cancel Spotify. As Spotify is offered on a one-month rolling contract, you can simply cancel your subscription penalty-free at any point. You'll continue to get the service until your next billing date – then your account will be switched to a limited, free one. You just need to complete the following steps, so long as you signed up directly via Spotify:

  - Log in to your Spotify account.

  - Under 'Subscription', select 'Change plan'.

  - Scroll to 'Spotify Free' and select 'Cancel plan'.

  Contact your service provider if you signed up to Spotify via your mobile or broadband provider, or follow Apple's steps to cancel if you pay via its App Store.

• Consider switching – for example, Amazon Music Unlimited and Apple Music currently cost £1 to £2 a month less. While Spotify is the best-known, there are a wide range of other music streaming services out there.
  
  For example, right now, Amazon's individual music streaming service costs £11.99 a month, or you can get Music Unlimited for £10.99 a month if you're an Amazon Prime subscriber. Apple Music, meanwhile, costs £10.99 a month for individuals.
  

  If you need a family plan, Apple Music currently charges £16.99 a month, a saving of £5 a month compared to Spotify's new price – and Apple's family plan supports six listeners just like Spotify.
  

  Of course, there's no guarantee Amazon and Apple will keep prices as they are now (in fact, Amazon upped its prices in January this year) – but if they do go up, you can cancel penalty-free as with Spotify.

• Use free trial offers. Both Amazon Music Unlimited and Apple Music (as well as Spotify) offer free trials to new users, in some cases of up to three months. Just remember to cancel any trials before they end if you don't want to actually pay for the service.