The company said in a statement that the music price hike was due to “an increase in licensing costs” and that artists and songwriters will now earn more money.
That came as good news for investors in Warner Music Group Corp., a top recording company, which sent the shares up as much as 15% on Monday.
Apple is also hiking its annual music plan to $109 from $99 and its TV+ yearly subscription to $69 from $49. Apple One bundles for families are going to $22.95 from $19.95, while the Premier package, which adds News+, Fitness+ and additional storage on top of Arcade, Music and TV+, is climbing $3 to $32.95.
Apple shares rose less than 1% to $148.56 on Monday. Though the stock is down 16% this year, that’s less of a rout than the broader indexes have suffered. The S&P 500 Index has fallen more than 20%. In explaining the TV+ increase, Apple said that service was introduced “at a very low price” because it started with just a few shows and movies. It’s now “home to an extensive selection of award-winning and broadly acclaimed series, feature films, documentaries, and kids and family entertainment from the world’s most creative storytellers,” Apple said.
Still, the service’s viewership hasn’t matched that of other big streaming platforms. While Apple TV+ has had a run of critically acclaimed hits, including Oscar winner Coda and series such as Severance and Ted Lasso, it remains an also-ran in the hotly competitive streaming video space. Nielsen’s most recent report showed Americans spent more time watching at least five other paid services, plus ad-supported video from YouTube and Pluto TV.