Sometimes what you don’t say is just as important as what you do, and during Wednesday’s Spotify Stream On event, CEO Daniel EK did not make two announcements that many observers expected.
All eyes were on Ek to see if he would bow to pressure from major labels and some investors to increase monthly subscription prices. The streamer’s major competitors, including Apple Music and Amazon Music, raised base monthly subscriptions from $9.99 to $10.99 several months ago.
The CEO had promised to consider it during a January investor call but offered no update Wednesday.
No HiFi
At a Stream On event two years ago, Spotify announced they would add Hi-Fi by the end of 2021. But at Wednesday’s Stream On 2023, there was still no mention of higher quality audio which competitors iApple and Amazon rolled out last year at no additional cost to subscribers.
How did Wall Street react?
Spotify stock ticked up slightly Wednesday, closing at $126.99, an increase of 0.51% on a day when overall market indexes were flat or declined marginally.
Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot and MusicThinkTank, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a professor for the Berklee College Of Music.
