The Submo Music Price Index

The index tracks the individual plan for each service: one person, one account, no ads. Family and duo plans are excluded: they have moved on a different schedule, and a household comparison would need to assume a household size.

Amazon Music Unlimited is tracked but excluded from the average. Its price depends on whether the subscriber also pays for Prime, and the two figures have diverged; the series here follows the standalone price, which is not comparable to a plan with no membership behind it.

The headline figure is an average, not a total. These are substitutes, not complements. People pick one music service, unlike video, where stacking three or four is normal.

Prices are recorded in the month they took effect for new subscribers. Existing subscribers are typically moved one to two billing cycles later, so an individual bill may lag the series by a month or two.

Every price point cites the report that documented the change. When a report states a new price “up from $X”, or dates the previous increase, we treat that article as a record of the earlier point as well. Nothing is interpolated: a service holds its last documented price until the next documented change, which is why the chart steps rather than slopes.

It is based at June 2018, the first full month after YouTube Music Premium launched and therefore the first month all three services could be compared. Spotify had already been charging $9.99 for seven years by then.

This is a list-price index, and the gap between list and paid is unusually wide in music. Student plans at roughly half price, duo and family plans, carrier and hardware bundles, and long free trials all pull real spending below these figures.

It also says nothing about what artists are paid. A subscription price is a consumer price; per-stream payouts depend on royalty pools, label deals and how many people listened to what, none of which can be read off the numbers here.

It is US-only, and it contains no Submo user data of any kind. Every number on this page comes from public reporting, and can be checked against the sources below.