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Spotify Unveils Basic, Music-Only Subscription Tier at Reduced Price

Spotify announced a music-only "basic" plan without audiobooks for $1 less per month than its premium individual tier.

The reveal of the basic tier, which Spotify teased during its Q1 earnings call in April, follows the company’s June 3 announcement that it would be raising prices in the United States for a second consecutive year. The new tier comes amid a pitched battle between Spotify and music publishers following the streamer’s decision to reclassify its premium offerings as “bundles,” which qualifies those plans for a discounted rate on mechanical royalties in the United States. Later in May, NMPA president/CEO David Israelite sent a letter to Judiciary Committee leadership in both the U.S. House and Senate asking for an overhaul of the statutory license in section 115 of the Copyright Act, which “prevents private negotiations in a free market” for mechanical royalty rates for songwriters and music publishers in the United States.

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