Music fans may need to brace themselves for bigger bills as another major streaming service ups its monthly rates. Pandora announced this week that it is raising prices for Pandora Premium subscribers, joining other platforms that have also increased costs in recent months.
Pandora listeners will now pay $10.99 per month for an individual Pandora Premium membership, a $1 increase from the previous $9.99 fee. The media giant’s family plan is getting an even bigger bump, jumping from $14.99 to $17.99 per month. Military and student discounts aren’t escaping unscathed either – those tiers will respectively see new rates of $8.99 and $5.99 monthly.
So what’s fueling this wave of streaming price boosts? For one thing, streaming royalties and music licensing fees have steadily climbed over the years. As the costs of doing business in the digital music world rise, services have little choice but to pass some of that burden onto consumers. It’s a familiar cycle we’ve seen play out across other industries as well.
Pandora acknowledged as much in explaining the need for its own rise in prices. A company rep stated that royalty expenses have grown significantly, testing Pandora’s ability to sustain its cost structure. The moves by Pandora and competitors like Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music signal just how pricey it has become to secure the rights to billions of songs.
Some see the increases as necessary to sustain payouts to recording artists and songwriters. With streaming now dominating how fans listen to and discover music, it has become a crucial revenue stream for many musicians. Whether listeners are willing to continue absorbing regular bill hikes remains another question entirely.
For now, music fans may just have to get used to subscription fees becoming a bit less affordable. But with streaming still offering vast libraries for relatively low monthly costs, most will likely find the new rates palatable, even if their wallets feel the pinch.
