While I subscribe to Apple Music and YouTube Music, I use Spotify the most — a lot of that has to do with the fact that it has better playlists and recommendations. That said, the lack of a lossless tier has been a major issue for a while now, and Spotify is addressing that with the introduction of its Premium Platinum plan in India, following its rollout in other global markets.
The plan lets you listen to lossless music in Spotify with bitrate of up to 24-bit/44.1kHz, and it's just great to be able to stream higher-quality music on Spotify. While it has been a long time coming, what isn't so great is the pricing: the Premium Platinum costs ₹299 ($3.38), which is a 40% increase from the ₹179 ($2) family plan. Annoyingly, the family plan is no longer available for new subscribers, and has been moved to the legacy tier — if you subscribe to it, you can continue using it.
I used Spotify's family plan for close to a decade now, subscribing in the U.S. and switching over to Indian pricing when the service debuted in the country. Honestly, the Indian family plan always felt like it was an unbeatable value, and it's clear why Spotify chose to go with ₹179 — Apple Music's family plan also costs the same in India.
That is what makes the Premium Platinum price hike a little jarring; with Apple Music still continuing to cost ₹179, Spotify's lossless tier is 40% costlier, and I don't think the plan will find many takers in the country. While I don't have an issue as such with the new pricing — I pay the same for YouTube Premium and don't use it anywhere as much — what's egregious is that the Premium Platinum plan is limited to just three accounts, half as much as the previous family plan.
Basically, I now have to take two Premium Platinum plans to be able to get the same features as my earlier family plan, just so that I can listen to lossless music. That comes out to ₹598 ($6.75) a month, which is a 70% increase from before. Spotify also states that the plan has AI-assisted DJ and AI playlists, and honestly, I see that as a downside.
I switched over to the Premium Platinum plan as I've been waiting to use Spotify lossless for a while now, but limiting it to three accounts is just plain annoying. Not having a standard family plan as an alternative is just asinine — particularly when all other music streaming platforms have one. If anything, I think this will be the impetus that will get me to switch to Apple Music wholesale.
