Spotify is raising the price of its Premium subscriptions in South Africa for the second time in 2025 while rolling out an entirely revamped set of plans—part of a global overhaul that includes new offerings in markets such as Saudi Arabia, the UAE, India, and Indonesia.
The latest adjustment comes just months after the platform’s previous price hike in September 2025. This round, however, coincides with the introduction of long-awaited features such as lossless audio streaming, which Spotify is adding to its service for the first time.
New Subscription Lineup
As part of the shake-up, Spotify has introduced three new plans—Premium Lite, Premium Standard, and Premium Platinum—while discontinuing its Duo tier. The new plans available in South Africa include:
- Premium Lite — R69.99/month
Single account, high-quality streaming up to 160 kbps. - Premium Standard — R94.99/month
Single account, “very high-quality” audio up to 320 kbps, plus offline downloads.
New users get their first month free. - Premium Platinum — R179.99/month
Supports up to three accounts at the same address, includes lossless audio up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz, offline listening, audiobook hours, a personal AI DJ, AI playlist creation, and DJ software integration.
Spotify has kept its Premium Student plan but raised the fee to R47.99/month, up R10 from the previous pricing.
Context: Repeated Price Hikes in 2025
This marks Spotify’s second price increase in South Africa this year. The previous adjustment in September raised the price of the Individual plan from R64.99 to R69.99, lifted Duo to R94.99, Family to R119.99, and increased the Student plan from R34.99 to R37.99—ranging from 7.7% to 20%.
With the newest pricing changes and the arrival of lossless audio, Spotify appears to be positioning its subscription model to compete more directly with high-fidelity streaming services while phasing out offerings like Duo that no longer fit its long-term strategy.
Main Image: Stuff South Africa
