Spotify's share price is up 3.9% this week after the company's announcement of a US price hike on Monday (June 3) sent the stock on a rollercoaster ride. Shares hit a new 52-week high of $331.08 on Wednesday – the highest since February 25, 2021 – before closing at $308.11 on Friday (June 7).
After raising subscription prices in the United States and several other major markets in July 2023, Spotify further raised prices in the United Kingdom and Australia in May. The additional US price increase, which will take effect in July, will increase individual prices to $11.99 per month and family plans to $19.99 per month. The higher prices will help Spotify cover the cost of bundling music with limited free audiobook streaming. However, the streamer gives its customers a lot of options. A music-only tier has been introduced in the UK that costs £10.99 ($13.99) a month, compared to £11.99 ($15.26) a month for the music and audiobook option. Duo plans for two people and student plans also offer discounts on the standard individual plan.
The Billboard Global Music Index rose 0.1% to 1,801.44 as Spotify's gain helped to overshadow losses at 13 of the index's 20 companies. Other majors in the index fell modestly this week: Warner Music Group fell 0.9% to $29.51, Universal Music Group fell 1.2% to 28.23 euros ($30.53) and Live Nation fell 3.4% to $90.56. The index is 2.5% below its high of 1,847.64 set in the week ended May 3, 2024.
iHeartMedia, the index's biggest gainer for a second straight week, rose 35% to $1.25 on the week after rising 6.4%. In just two weeks, iHeartMedia's year-to-date loss improved from 67.4% to 53.2% without any major news announcements or regulatory filings. At the company's annual general meeting on Wednesday (5 June), shareholders re-elected a chief executive Bob Pittman and CFO/COO Rich Bressler to the board of directors and approved an advisory vote on the company's executive compensation in 2023.
SM Entertainment fell 8.5% to 83,500 won ($60.51) amid controversy over an alleged sex scandal involving group NCT's Johnny and Haechan, which SM Entertainment has denied. Such a big drop is not unusual when a K-pop label's artists are stuck in the South Korean news. In October, K-pop stocks plunged following news that SM Entertainment artist Exo was leaving for a different agency. In April, HYBE shares fell sharply after the news broke Min Hee JinCEO of HYBE imprint ADOR, had attempted to take over the management of the subsidiary label.
Elsewhere, CTS Eventim rose 4.3 percent to 82.80 euros ($89.56). On Thursday (June 6), the German concert promoter and ticketing company completed its $327 million acquisition of Vivendi's festival and ticketing businesses. Last year, See Tickets sold 44 million tickets and had revenues of 105 million euros ($114 million). The deal does not include See Tickets France.
Shares of SiriusXM fell 9.5% to $2.56 this week, bringing its year-to-date loss to 53.2%. The satellite radio company, which also owns streaming platform Pandora, is banking on the success of its new streaming app that launched in December and is priced at $9.99 per month. Car satellite product, which includes streaming access, costs “about $19” a month, CEO Jennifer Vitch he said at the JP Morgan Global Technology, Media and Communications Conference on May 21. The company is trying to retain those satellite customers by attracting new streaming customers and reducing its reliance on promotional discounts. “I think we're going to have opportunities to both capture more demand, but also to maintain that full price base at those higher price points and implement rate increases over time,” Witz said.
Some US stock indexes hit all-time highs this week. The S&P 500 hit a record high of 5,375.08 on Friday, although it closed at 5,346.99, down 0.1%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite hit a new high of 17,235.73 on Thursday and closed Friday at 17,133.12, up 2.4 percent from the previous week. In the UK, the FTSE 100 fell 0.4% to 8,245.37 points. South Korea's KOSPI composite rose 3.3 percent to 2,722.67. China's Shanghai Composite index lost 1.2% to 3,051.28 points.
