Spotify Premium is going to get a little more expensive this month.

Bloomberg reports that Spotify plans to raise prices by $1 to $2 per month in five regions, including the UK, Australia, and Pakistan, by the end of April.

The U.S. will not be exempt from the price increase either, but will only be able to enjoy the old prices for a slightly longer period of time. According to the report, Spotify Premium users in the U.S. will not see the price increase until late 2024.

Recently, Spotify introduced free audiobooks as part of its Premium plan. Paid plans allow Spotify users to listen to up to 15 hours of audiobooks per month.

If that added value becomes too burdensome for Spotify and causes price increases, it will not be a good value. According to the report, audiobooks are the main reason Spotify decided to raise prices.

I can't say I'm surprised by this move. Spotify pays book publishers for these books and only earns revenue from users who exceed the 15-hour time limit. However, from the outside looking in, it is not hard to imagine that this plan could be in the red, as Spotify would have to make adjustments to make it more financially sensible.

According to Bloomberg's sources, Spotify plans to keep the same $11 cost but introduce a new plan that will not feature audiobooks. So basically, the company is going back to where it started, offering music and podcasts only to users of this plan. Users of this plan will still be able to access audiobooks, but they will have to pay for them.

It is not clear at this time whether current premium plan users will have to bother downgrading to the new plan without audiobooks, or whether they will default to the audiobook version for an additional fee. Will current premium plan users need to downgrade to the new plan without audiobooks, or will they default to the audiobook version, which will cost extra?