Spotify is increasing its subscription prices again (but only for students)
The price hike is part of wider increases for users of the streaming service across Europe, South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region.
From next month, the price of a student subscription will go from €5.99 to €6.99 in Ireland.
Spotify has several subscription options, such as a family plan and a 'duo' plan, but there'll be no changes made to these for Irish users.
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Last year, the price of the Individual Premium subscription – Spotify's most popular plan – went from €10.99 to €11.99.
The app is free to use, but a subscription eliminates ads and provides other features and content such as audiobooks.
The price increase follows similar changes in the US and UK, which came into effect in May.
Spotify has around 220 million premium subscribers worldwide.
In 2024, the service made a net income of €1.138 billion – the first year it's made a profit since the company's founding in 2006. In the same year, it paid out €10 billion to artists.
It had faced backlash for not paying artists more for streams and was
accused of in the US unfairly cutting loyalty rates
. However, in January a federal judge ruled that the move was supported by 'unambiguous' regulations.
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Don't forget to keep an eye open for betting promotions throughout the Premier League season. As well as ad hoc offers, you can also use free bets on football. Check out our best free bets and Irish betting offers page for more details. Our bold predictions ahead of the 2025/26 Premier League season Below we have named our 2025/26 Premier League predictions. We've covered the main markets, like who will win the title and top score, and we've also included some bold predictions that offer great value if you are looking to not go down the obvious routes with your wagers: Arsenal to win the Premier League title (9/4) It's fair to say the standard at the top end of the Premier League dropped last season. The facts are that Manchester City won the Premier League in 2023/24 with 91 points, Arsenal finished second on 89, with Liverpool third on 82. In 2024/25, Liverpool won the title with 84 points, Arsenal finished second on 74, with Manchester City third on 71 points. In fairness to Liverpool, their performances did drop off in their final four matches. With the title already in the bag, the Reds only picked up two points from a possible 12. The Reds were clearly better last season than they were in 2023/24, but there can be little dispute that both Arsenal and City were way below their previous levels. This season promises to be different, particularly with Liverpool and Manchester City making a lot of changes to their playing squads. Liverpool's signings look to be top draw, and if they come together, Arne Slot will have some team. However, the Reds have made a lot of big name signings, and they will all need to integrate into what was already a well oiled machine - dare we say, one that didn't need wholesale changes made to it. As for Manchester City, we don't see them competing, as they look to be rebuilding a team from close to scratch. Therefore, we feel Arsenal has the best chance of lifting the league title. The Gunners underachieved last season, but they were focusing on the Champions League, so can be cut a bit of slack for their poor points total. Unlike Liverpool and more so Manchester City, the Gunners have chosen to tinker with their team, rather than overhaul it. The signings of Martín Zubimendi and Viktor Gyökeres could be game changers, and we say they will finally propel Arsenal to their first Premier League title since the 2003/04 season. ➡️ Back Arsenal to win the Premier League title at 9/4 with TonyBet Brentford, Burnley and Sunderland to be relegated (12/1) There are three obvious candidates when it comes to Premier League relegation. Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland are the favourites. The statistics back this up, as they show the three promoted teams have finished in the bottom three for the previous two seasons. We feel this run will be snapped this season, with only two of the promoted clubs going down. Teams that could get sucked into the relegation battle are Fulham, who have stood still in the transfer market; Bournemouth, who have lost some key defenders from last season that will be hard to replace; Wolves, who will have to cope without the goal contributions of Matheus Cunha, and Brentford, who will have to adapt to life without Bryan Mbeumo, and more importantly, Thomas Frank in the dugout. We like the look of Brentford for a relegation bet, as the loss of Thomas Frank is a game changer for the Bees. Brentford are 3/1 to be relegated. Place them in a bet365 relegation treble with Burnley and Sunderland, and you can get 12/1. ➡️ Back a relegation treble of Brentford, Burnley and Sunderland at 12/1 with bet365 Viktor Gyökeres to be top scorer (6/1) For the past three seasons the Premier League Golden Boot has been won by a player representing the team that won the league. Manchester City's Erling Haaland picked up the award in 2022/23 with a Premier League record of 36 goals. 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A bet on the Gunners to win the league with Liverpool finishing second is 6/1 with talkSPORT Bet. Arsenal/Man City pays 8/1 and Arsenal/Chelsea is 16/1. If you believe Liverpool will finish top, you can back Liverpool/Arsenal at 5/1 and Liverpool/Man City at 6/1. Elsewhere, Liverpool/Chelsea is 14/1 and Man City/Chelsea is 25/1. We are edging towards an Arsenal/Chelsea bet at 16/1 - and with the odds this long, we can hedge Arsenal/Liverpool at 6/1 to give us a second chance of winning. Why Arsenal/Chelsea? Well, we have already given our views on why we think Arsenal will win the league, so we don't need to go there again. As for Chelsea - they just seem to be heading in the right direction after a few years in the wilderness. The Blues finished last season strongly, and then in the summer they added the FIFA Club World Cup to their remarkable trophy haul. They have also made a couple of great signings in the front line in Liam Delap from Ipswich Town and João Pedro from Brighton. These two will offer Enzo Maresca different options, and in the case of Delap, he could be a perfect foil for Cole Palmer. We still don't see Chelsea winning the league, they are maybe a couple of years away from challenging for that. But it wouldn't be a surprise to see them competing in the top four with Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City - so why not back them for a top two finish at the better odds. ➡️ Back an Arsenal/Chelsea straight forecast at 16/1 with talkSPORT BET Cole Palmer to be top goalscorer (20/1) This is a bit of an outside bet based on the fact that we can see Chelsea having a strong season and possibly finishing in the top two or three. We believe Cole Palmer is a good outside bet to win the Golden Boot at a massive looking 20/1 with bet365. The bookie is offering ¼ of the odds for an each-way place in the top four in this market, and that makes Palmer look an even stronger bet. Palmer had a poor second half to the Premier League season in 2024/25, but he still finished the campaign with 15 goals (joint-eighth). A solid second half of the season probably wouldn't have seen him beating Salah's 29-goal haul, but would have almost certainly seen him score the six more he needed to be inside the top four scorers. Furthermore, Palmer was the second highest scorer in the Premier League in the 2023/24 season with 22 goals, finishing second only to Erling Haaland. Surely Enzo Maresca will have learned the lessons from the second half of last season and will now play a system that gets the best out of Palmer. The former-Manchester City man is key to the London club's success. He is getting better every season, and if Chelsea keep improving with him, the chances are he will be the talisman that one day wins them the title. We can see big things from both the player and the team this season. This makes a bet on Palmer to be the top scorer at 20/1 great value. And better still, with it being each-way, we have a second chance of winning if he finishes second, third or fourth in the Golden Boot pecking order. ➡️ Back Cole Palmer each-way to be the top Premier League scorer at 20/1 with bet365 (paying four each-way places) What happened in the 2024/25 Premier League season Manchester City started the 2024/25 Premier League season as the red hot favourites to make it five titles in a row. Arsenal were expected to be the team to challenge City, especially with Liverpool starting life without Jurgen Klopp. How wrong did the bookmakers get it? City were woeful compared to previous seasons, finishing third with just 71 points, 20 fewer than in their 2023/24 title winning campaign. Liverpool eventually won the league with 84 points, ten clear of Arsenal, who focused the majority of their resources on their run to the Champions League semi-final. Chelsea, Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur will compete in the Champions League alongside Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City next season. They will be joined in European competition by Aston Villa, the overachieving Nottingham Forest and FA Cup winners Crystal Palace. Other teams who were involved in the race for European places were Brighton, Bournemouth and Fulham - all had excellent seasons, which was in direct contrast to Manchester United, who finished 15th on 42 points, and Spurs, who finished 17th on 38. The silver lining for Spurs was that they clinched a place in the Champions League by lifting the Europa League trophy. At the bottom end of the table, Leicester City, Ipswich Town and Southampton went down to the Championship. This was the second successive year that the three promoted teams were immediately relegated. Looking to break that sequence this season is Leeds United, Burnley and Sunderland. When to place Premier League outright bets Deciding whether to place your EPL outright bets preseason or when the campaign is up and running can be tricky. In the case of an outright Premier League winner bet, if you back a team preseason to win the title and your selection gets off to a flyer, you are patting yourself on the back when you see the bookies quickly slash their odds. However, if your selection gets off to a stinking start, you can be kicking yourself when their odds lengthen. The key thing here is to remember the league season is a long process. So why not put half your stake on your Premier League winner bet preseason, and if your team gets off to a poor start, or drops off in form (as they inevitably will at some point), you can then top up your bet with the other half of your stake. Another alternative is to back the longer odds wagers now, looking to hedge your bets throughout the season. For example, Viktor Gyökeres is 6/1 to be top scorer in this season's Premier League. If the Swede scores three in his first three matches, his odds will be drastically slashed. So it makes more sense to back him now. If the odds on a goalscoring rival lengthens after a goalless run, then back that player then, as the goals will return at some point. You can do this across the market, and hope that one selection comes good. Checking the fixture list can also give good insight. Doing this, you can see if a team has a favourable run of fixtures coming up, making that the ideal time to back your team or player (depending on the market). Always bear in mind that players can pick up injuries, and over the course of a long and challenging ten-month season, players will also be in and out of form at various points. How to follow the Premier League action Keeping up to speed with the goings on of the Premier League is crucial for placing informed bets. Some tips for doing this include following respected statisticians, analysts, and just basic stuff, like who is in good form, and is that player an injury doubt for their team's upcoming fixture? However, we believe that data and statistical analysis is the real key to placing successful Premier League wagers. The bookies don't create their odds on a hunch. They are based on probability, taken from data and statistics. If you can take the statistics and use them to find an edge, you can have a successful season betting on the Premier League action. This could be data on corners, shots on goal, tackles, etc. There are hundreds of different markets available on every match, and this is where the opportunities lie, as there will always be a market that we can outsmart the bookies on if we do our homework. About the author Craig Mahood Craig Mahood is an expert in sports betting and online casinos and has worked with the company since 2020. He joined the Betting & Gaming team at The Sun in June 2022 and works closely with the leading bookmakers and online gaming companies to provide content on all areas of sports betting and gaming. He previously worked as a Digital Sports Reporter at the Scottish Sun, covering Scottish football with particular focus on Celtic and Rangers, As well as football, he has covered horse racing, boxing, darts, the Olympics and tennis for the Sun. Responsible gambling A responsible gambler is someone who: Establishes time and monetary limits before playing Only gambles with money they can afford to lose Never chase their losses Doesn't gamble if they're upset, angry, or depressed Problem gambling – Gamble Aware – Help with gambling addiction If you have a problem with gambling, or you know someone who does, help is out there. Extern Problem Gambling is the leading provider of information, treatment, advice, and support for anyone affected by gambling harms across Ireland.
