Photo Credit: CNBC (Jim Cramer’s ‘Mad Money’)
Spotify’s rollercoaster summer on Wall Street is befuddling even industry observers such as CNBC’s ‘Mad Money’ host Jim Cramer. Cramer has oscillated between bullish optimism and outright bafflement on Spotify’s future.
“While the broader market overs near all-time highs, not every stock is getting in on the celebration,” Cramer said during one episode. “Take Spotify. That’s the world’s most popular music streaming subscription with the company boasting a user base of nearly 700 million strong. But when Spotify reported last Tuesday morning, the darn thing dropped another 11.5%. While the stock’s recovered a bit since then, it’s still down almost 18% from its highs,” Cramer told his audience.
Spotify reported Q2 2025 revenue of €4.19 billion ($4.56 billion), missing Wall Street expectations by a narrow margin. More troubling was a surprise quarterly loss of €86 million ($100 million) as opposed to analysts’ hopes of another profitable quarter. Spotify attributed this loss not only to foreign exchange volatility, but also to heightened personnel and marketing costs.
Following the earnings miss, Spotify shares plunged over 11% in a single day. In the days that followed, the company rolled out international price hikes, increasing monthly rates by about $1 across territories in South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Latin America. U.S. prices remain at $11.99 for now, which aligns with what CEO Daniel Ek said concerning price hikes in developed nations. The announcement of the price hike briefly helped the stock rebound, but those gains proved fleeting as Spotify’s valuation concerns and further competitive threats loom.
Both Spotify and Deezer have raised their price in the United States to $11.99/month, making those services the most expensive audio-only streaming services in the United States. YouTube Premium is marginally higher at $13.99/month, but that offering includes ad-free YouTube. Data statistics from CivicScience show about one-third of U.S. based YouTube users use YouTube Premium—either paying for it themselves or through a shared log-in.
Bundling strategies from Apple, Google, and Amazon tie music with other services, making those bundles stickier in a tightening consumer market. Subscribers paying for bundles with other perks (Apple One, Google One) are more likely to drop Spotify as a singular subscription as inflation and cost-of-living concerns hit discretionary budgets in U.S. households.
On the artist side, Spotify remains under fire for the lowest per-stream payout rates among major platforms, further complicating its PR posture within the rights-holder community. While Spotify boasts massive total payouts, the average artist still sees comparatively modest returns. Meanwhile, Apple includes lossless audio at no extra charge—sweetening the deal for audiophiles without a premium price tag. Spotify’s HiFi plan announced more than five years ago is still no where to be found.
Content shared from www.digitalmusicnews.com.