Spotify just reversed its 30% price increase in a key market

But in a surprising turn of events, Spotify appears to be cutting its prices by around 30% in another key market.

Spotify recently revised its pricing in India, where the cost of the monthly Standard Plan was reduced from Rs. 199 ($2.08) to Rs. 139 ($1.49) per month. While that’s already too attractive compared to what subscribers pay in the US or other parts of the world, Spotify is also offering a limited-time introductory offer that drops the price even further to Rs. 99 ($1.03) for the first three months, although the offer is only available to new subscribers.

How about we put those prices into perspective with respect to rising prices in the United States?

Additionally, Spotify has reduced the price of its student plan to Rs. 69 ($0.72) per month. Meanwhile, the price of the Platinum tier with Hi-Fi playback and support for three family accounts remains unchanged. At the same time, Spotify has eliminated the “Lite” planwhich offered ad-free playback but lower audio quality (up to 160 kbps) and did not support downloading music for offline playback.

This change essentially undoes previous price increases in the country, which may have affected subscription purchases. It’s unclear whether existing subscribers will revert to the new price or be asked to cancel their plans and resubscribe.

In particular, YouTube Music and Apple Music have been available as free carrier packages, making them viable alternatives for anyone who isn’t too attached to Spotify and is willing to switch. Meanwhile, India accounts for almost 10% of Spotify’s global user base of 761 million, making it an important market to pursue, if not for revenue, then to grow its user numbers.

In January, when Spotify announced the $1 price increase in the US, it said the price increase allows it to “continue to offer the best experience possible and benefit artists.” The logic may not suit India, which is a price-sensitive market with very cheap internet plans.

While Spotify’s latest price cuts make it more attractive to Indian users, these changes are unlikely to extend to the United States. However, we hope it will trigger a new trend to reverse recent price changes in at least some more competitive markets.