Another price increase, already? Yep, Deezer has announced it is increasing the cost of a premium subscription in some key European markets - including Spain, France, Italy and the Netherlands - to €11.99. Family plan pricing will also increase, including in the UK, from 17.99 to 19.99.
Confirming the next round of price rises, Deezer said yesterday: "Since the creation of Deezer more than a decade and a half ago, we have been fully committed to recognising the true value of music created by artists. As a result, and to support continuous investment in innovation to deliver valuable support for artists and enhance fan experiences, Deezer has decided to adjust its prices".
The changes will go into effect immediately for new subscriptions, and will apply to existing subscribers from next month.
Deezer was the first streaming service to start pushing the baseline price of a premium subscription above the 9.99 price point that had been standard in Western Europe and North America ever since the music streaming services first launched in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
The music industry, which has revenue share deals with the streaming services, had been calling for price increases for some time, given that - when inflation is factored in - the cost of a subscription had been declining each year.
Apple, Amazon, YouTube and then Spotify all ultimately followed Deezer's lead, pushing the price in key markets from 9.99 to 10.99.
In a recent call with investors, Deezer boss Jeronimo Folgueira confirmed that the initial price increase hadn't resulted in any major uplift in churn, ie subscribers didn't cancel when the price went up. Which possibly motivated the decision to apply a second price increase quite so quickly.
Many in the industry hope that now a first price increase has been applied across the sector, we will see semi-regular price increases in line with inflation.
But could some extra price increases also be applied to reclaim some of the value lost during the fifteen years when the baseline was fixed at 9.99? Well, although inflation is generally high at the moment, Deezer going from 10.99 to 11.99 is more than an inflationary increase. So, maybe.