A Little Knowledge... #25

???BULLETIN NEWS: Spotify raising Premium price in 50+ countries?

Spotify?confirmed last week that it is raising the price of subscriptions in?53 countries –?including, for the first time since the DSP launched, in the USA.

• Roughly speaking, subscription prices went up by similar increments everywhere: in the US, it's?now $10.99 for a Premium Individual account (up by $1), $14.99 for a Premium Duo account (increased by $2), $16.99 for Premium Family (up by $1), and $5.99 for Premium Student (up by $1).?
• The platform was keen to stress that these price increases are reflective of a service that now has additional content like podcasts, enhanced with new technology like AI DJ, and added social experiences like Blend playlists.
• Judging by social media reactions, there was no enormous revolt by subscribers, at least. Spotify’s share price dipped by 4.6%, although the various major stakeholders are happy with an increase to the company’s income stream.
• Artists and songwriters, many of whom have long campaigned for increased or changed royalty systems, are perhaps understandably not falling over themselves to praise Spotify – but increased revenue should mean some increase to the payouts to them, too.

It's not just Spotify, by the way –??the other major DSPs which have raised prices recently too. Rightsholders?were pushing Spotify to raise prices but it's the impact of inflation, too:?RIAA data?shows that?paid subscription revenue in the US, adjusted for inflation

???Music Ally archive:?Spotify

?? COUNTRY PROFILES:?Italy – a thriving, buoyant scene with lots of local talent

Country Profiles?are?one of our most popular and data- and insight-rich resources. Our reports are based on speaking to the people on the ground, and are packed with info you need to know.

A new profile for?Italy?reveals the?recorded music business is thriving, revenue is up and domestic acts are dominating:

• Italy had some 5.7 million music streaming subscribers at the end of 2022, up from 3m in 2021 and 1.5m in 2019, according to Enzo Mazza, CEO of music industry body FIMI.
• Generally, the Italian music business enters summer 2023 in a buoyant mood: 2022 saw an 11.1% increase in recorded music revenue, while the country’s top ten albums were, for the third successive year, made up of domestic talent.
• One possible cloud on the horizon for Italy is the ongoing dispute between SIAE and Meta, which removed the collecting society’s repertoire from its licensed music library at the start of 2023, a move that publishing organisation ICMP said represented “strong-arm tactics”.
• Italy’s competition watchdog AGCM has now?announced an investigation?into Meta’s, which Meta told Reuters it would co-operate fully with. Mazza says that the impact of the Meta / SIAE case “will be significant on monetisation”, with a slowdown in growth for the Italian music industry in the first quarter of 2023.?

Music Ally subscribers can read the Italy?country profile here?and – and everyone can access the?Italy-focussed page, which pulls all our Italian news stories into one place.

???A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA...

And finally… our?daily Bulletin newsletter?is loved by subscribers for its instant industry analysis - but secretly, the part they like most is the ‘A Little Something Extra’ section at the bottom of the email. Here's a few of the best recent links:

• A highly satisfying video featuring a series of old and often?hilariously convoluted pencil sharpeners.
• It turns out that both Oppenheimer and Terminator 2 were both influenced by…?a Sting song??
• Nature (plus some drugs smugglers who've mislaid their haul) have managed to one-up Cocaine Bear: stay away from the truly terrifying?Cocaine Sharks of Florida.

This is only a glimpse?into this week's The Knowledge newsletter –?subscribe for FREE?and every Friday it’ll arrive in your inbox with:

???Exclusive?access to?selected courses in our LEARNING HUB?????The best new platforms in TOOLS,???Highlights from our latest COUNTRY PROFILE REPORTS???????Some great and/or strange music in SOMETHING 4 THE WEEKEND,????A look back in TIME MACHINE,????The Music Ally Focus PODCAST, and????more links to our favourite unusual stuff in A LITTLE SOMETHING EXTRA.