Latest news with #TechTeam
Android Authority
5 days ago
- Business
- Android Authority
For the first time in the US, Spotify is letting your family get access to this feature
Tech Team / Android Authority TL;DR Spotify is expanding its Audiobooks Plus plans to users in the US. Audiobooks Plus is an add-on that grants 15 additional hours of audiobook listening per month. Audiobooks Plus for Plan Members allows other members of your Premium Family or Duo plan to access 15 hours of listening. Through Spotify Premium, you have access to 15 hours of audiobook listening per month. While this is plenty of time for most people, it isn't enough for some to satiate their listening habits. For the audiobook listeners who love to binge and their equally voracious family members, Spotify is rolling out some add-ons that you may be interested in. Back in July, Spotify announced the launch of two add-ons for Premium members: Audiobooks Plus and Audiobooks Plus for Plan Members. However, these add-ons were initially only available to users in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. The streaming platform is now expanding access to these add-ons by bringing the US into the fold, starting today. For a quick refresher, Audiobooks Plus allows Individual, Family, or Duo account managers to tack on an additional 15 hours of listening time per month. Premium users already had the ability to purchase extra time, as needed, but this add-on provides recurring access to 15 additional hours. Meanwhile, Audiobooks Plus for Plan Members allows the other members on your Family or Duo plan to access 15 hours of monthly audiobook listening. This is the first time other members on a plan who aren't the cardholder will be able to access audiobooks. The rollout of these add-ons in the US arrives shortly after the company announced price changes to Premium subscriptions. In a blog post, Spotify revealed that the price would go up from €10,99 to €11,99. While the US was spared from the price hike, it hit multiple markets across South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific. Follow
Android Authority
23-06-2025
- Business
- Android Authority
Still upset about last summer's Spotify price bump? These lawmakers are on the case
Tech Team / Android Authority TL;DR Last year Spotify introduced audiobook access and raised pricing for Premium plans. While there was still a music-only Basic option, these senators don't think consumers were made adequately aware. They also accuse Spotify of orchestrating the whole change to lower its payouts to musicians. Streaming services raising their prices is just as inevitable as death and taxes, and year after year, we slowly end up paying more and more for that access. While we may not like it, at least these price bumps are usually a pretty straightforward affair. But around this time last year, Spotify started charging subscribers more in a way that felt particularly sneaky. Now it turns out that a couple US senators haven't forgotten about that mess, and are petitioning the FTC to step in. It used to be that a Spotify Premium plan cost subscribers right about $11 a month. But last year Spotify introduced audiobooks, and used the opportunity to justify a change to its plans and pricing. The company raised its Premium plan by $1 to $12, and for that you'd get access to 15 hours of audiobook streams every month. What if you don't care about audiobooks, and pay for Spotify because you just want music? It turns out that Spotify quietly introduced a new Basic plan that kept the old $11 pricing and didn't include this audiobook access, but you'd have to manually switch your account over — if you didn't pay attention to what was happening, you'd end up on the new $12 plan. And frustratingly, this is only an option for existing users, and new sign-ups have audiobooks forced upon them, like it or not. So where do a couple senators come in? Senators Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Ben Ray Luján of New Mexico have written a letter to the FTC's Andrew Ferguson, asking that the agency look into what Spotify did (via TechCrunch). The message asserts that consumers were not adequately notified of the changes at the time and the options available to them. In an interesting twist, the senators go on to accuse Spotify of making this change not only to directly increase revenue from subscribers, but also to wriggle out of paying its rightful due of royalties to musicians. Apparently the bundling of the Premium tier with audiobook access, combined with offering a relatively expensive $10/month audiobook-only plan, allows Spotify to pay a lower rate on music royalties than it would if most users were still on music-only plans. While that's a particularly cynical interpretation, it's also an incredibly business-savvy one, and we'll be very curious to hear what the FTC has to say about this theory. Did you make the switch to Basic or keep Spotify Premium and enjoy the audiobook access? Let us know down in the comments. Got a tip? Talk to us! Email our staff at Email our staff at news@ . You can stay anonymous or get credit for the info, it's your choice.
