Yahoo Finance Apple raises prices of its services as media executives double down on price hikes
Apple (AAPL) is joining its streaming competitors in hiking prices.
On Monday, the tech giant announced price increases across its various services including Apple TV+, Apple Music, and the Apple One Bundle. This is the first time Apple has raised the subscription prices of those offerings in the U.S., and international markets will see similar price increases.
In a statement to Yahoo Finance, an Apple spokesperson confirmed the price hikes, stating: "The subscription prices for Apple Music, Apple TV+, and Apple One will increase beginning today."
Apple Music will now cost $10.99 for an individual plan (an increase of $1), and the family plan will go up by $2 a month to $16.99. Pricing for competitor Spotify (SPOT) currently starts at $9.99 a month.
Apple TV+ will see a price increase of $2 to $6.99 a month, while the Apple One bundle, which includes subscriptions to Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, iCloud+, Apple News+, and Apple Fitness+, will raise prices by $2 a month to $16.95.
Apple noted that the change to Apple Music is due to an increase in licensing costs. As a result, artists and songwriters will earn more for the streaming of their music.
The stock, which is down more than 16% year-to-date, traded relatively flat on the news; however, Warner Music Group (WMG) surged on the announcement, jumping by more than 13% at one point on Monday.
In regards to Apple TV+, the company wrote: "We introduced Apple TV+ at a very low price because we started with just a few shows and movies. Three years later, Apple TV+ is home to an extensive selection of award-winning and broadly acclaimed series, feature films, documentaries, and kids and family entertainment from the world’s most creative storytellers."
The move follows recent price hikes from competitors like Netflix (NFLX), which boosted monthly prices in January, as well as Disney (DIS), which announced price increases across its various streaming properties in August.
Most recently, YouTube (GOOGL) raised the price of its YouTube Premium Family plan by 28%, with U.S. prices increasing from $17.99 to $22.99. The YouTube Premium individual plan and the student plan maintained their current prices of $11.99/month and $6.99/month, respectively.
"Streaming pricing is going to go up," Paramount (PARA) CEO Bob Bakish previously warned during Yahoo Finance's All Markets Summit (video above). He added that consumers will likely absorb the cost increases since "streaming represents an extraordinary value in general for the consumer."
Alexandra is a Senior Entertainment and Food Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @alliecanal8193 and email her at alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com
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