Technologies

Spotify Raises Premium Subscription Price Globally (but Not in the US… Yet)

The price of a Premium Individual subscription goes up to nearly $14 for overseas markets but remains at $12 in the US.

For many global customers, the cost of streaming their favorite music on Spotify is about to have a bigger impact on their wallets.

The music streaming service announced that it’s raising the monthly price of a premium subscription for markets in South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the Asia-Pacific region. The price change will vary based on each region’s local currency, but in Euro-using countries, a premium subscription will go up 1 euro a month to 11.99 euros ($13.87), and in the United Kingdom, it will go up by one pound a month.

The price for US-based subscribers will not go up — for now at least. That likely won’t last — the company raised the price by a dollar in 2023 and another dollar in 2024. It now costs $12.

In its announcement Monday, Spotify said it was introducing the price increase «so that we can continue to innovate on our product offerings and features, and bring you the best experience.»

Stuart Dredge, head of insight at Music Ally and co-host of The Price of Music podcast, calledi it «a positive move» after years of subscription price stagnation.

«More money coming in means more being paid out, which is good for artists and songwriters — even with all the arguments still going on about how that money is shared out,» Dredge said. «Personally, £11.99 a month still feels like good value for the entire catalog of recorded music, especially when you compare it to the streaming video world.»

The announcement gave a shot in the arm to Spotify’s share price during Monday’s trading, with a nearly 7% increase in the stock price at the NYSE. The share price had dropped 11.5% on July 29 after the company’s profit forecast fell below what analysts had predicted.

Music streaming remains a huge business

Spotify retains a comfortable market share lead among music streaming apps. By the end of 2024, the Sweden-based app was No. 1 with a nearly 32 percent market share, followed far behind by Tencent, Apple, Amazon and YouTube. One-third of the music streaming market is in North America,and the US market is expected to grow by 13% by 2030.

A representative for Luminate, a music and entertainment data and analytics company, said that music streams reached nearly 5 trillion globally in 2024.

«Our 2025 Midyear Music Report shows continued streaming growth, but the rate has slowed compared to recent years,» said a Luminate spokesperson. «Instead, there is an appetite for more innovation and new areas of music discovery from music listeners.

«Whether it’s streaming activity on gaming platforms or attitudes towards AI-generated content, younger listeners are more open to non-traditional and transmedia engagement,» the spokesperson added. «That should be a sign that opportunities for growth are shifting, not decreasing.»

Technologies

How to Make and Share Your Very Own Wordle Puzzles

Wordle obsessives, you can now make personal inside joke puzzles to send them to friends.

Wordle’s an immensely popular word game (we post the answers daily) from The New York Times, but it’s not the most personal game in the world. Answers such as GUISE and PERIL are tricky, but generic. Now, Wordle fans who have dreamed of making their own puzzles can test their friends and family by creating their own Wordle creations up to seven letters in length.

Here’s how to do it.

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No surprise, you have to be a New York Times Games or All Access Subscriber to use this feature. If you are, you’ll find the Create a Puzzle option available from the top menu above today’s Wordle.
Enter a word, and the site will tell you if it is available. Real Wordle limits you to five-letter words, but the puzzle-making feature lets you choose words between four and seven letters.
The usual dictionary rules apply, and so curse words, some pet names and obscure inside jokes are essentially out. If your cat is named TANGO, that’s there, but RINGO is not an option. You can drop a proposal with a single word like MARRY, but MARRYME will be rejected, since that’s two separate words.
Word chosen, you can then fill out your name and add an optional hint, and the feature will generate your puzzle with a link you can send around. Unlike standard puzzles, your puzzle doesn’t appear to reset after a day, so whoever you send it to doesn’t need to rush to solve it.

While you must be a subscriber to create your own personalized puzzle, you can share it with anyone — they only need the link, not a subscription, to complete your Wordle.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, Nov. 15

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Nov. 15.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? The Saturday puzzle is always the longest of the week, so it’s not quite as easy as the other days. Today’s wasn’t too terrible. Read on for the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Theatrical role
Answer: PART

5A clue: Capital of Vietnam
Answer: HANOI

6A clue: Father of a «fur baby»
Answer: CATDAD

7A clue: Words often accompanied by a ring
Answer: MARRYME

8A clue: Whirling currents
Answer: EDDIES

9A clue: Put up, as a statue
Answer: ERECT

10A clue: Race that’s about half the length of a half-marathon
Answer: TENK

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: SpongeBob’s starfish friend
Answer: PATRICK

2D clue: Despite it all …»
Answer: ANDYET

3D clue: Wanders here and there
Answer: ROAMS

4D clue: Company with a «To Go» stain remover
Answer: TIDE

5D clue: Become firm
Answer: HARDEN

6D clue: Small group of soldiers
Answer: CADRE

7D clue: What parallel lines never do
Answer: MEET

Technologies

Touchdown! Disney, ESPN and Other Channels Are Back on YouTube TV

YouTube TV subscribers no longer need another streaming service — or to visit a sports bar — to watch the NFL or college football.

YouTube TV subscribers, your channels — and your football — are back. Disney and YouTube said Friday night that the two companies had reached an agreement. YouTube TV subscribers lost all of Disney’s channels, including ESPN and ESPN2, on Oct. 30. Those who wanted to watch NFL or college football on ABC, ESPN or ESPN2 or Disney family-friendly hits such as Bluey, had to find other alternatives.

«We’re happy to share that we’ve reached an agreement with Disney that preserves the value of our service for our subscribers and future flexibility in our offers,» a YouTube spokesperson said. «Subscribers should see channels including ABC, ESPN and FX returning to their service over the course of the day, as well as any recordings that were previously in their Library. We apologize for the disruption and appreciate our subscribers’ patience as we negotiated on their behalf. «

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The companies said in a statement that they reached a multi-year deal and were already restoring the channels to YouTube TV.

According to YouTube, subscribers should see content and saved recordings restored over the next 24 hours. So if you don’t have them back yet, they should show up soon.

I’m a YouTube TV subscriber myself, and as of 5:30 p.m. PT on Friday, Disney, ESPN and other channels have been restored for me. As a die-hard Minnesota Vikings fan (yes, I know), I added Fubo TV temporarily, but I won’t be keeping that subscription.

According to the statement, the deal will include the restoration of the channels, plus other items. The unlimited version of ESPN’s new direct-to-consumer service will now be made available at no additional cost to YouTube TV subscribers. Subscribers will also have access to a selection of live and on-demand programming from ESPN Unlimited inside YouTube TV. Also, select networks will be included in various genre-specific packages, and there will be the ability to include the Disney Plus Hulu Bundle as part of select YouTube offerings.

«This new agreement reflects our continued commitment to delivering exceptional entertainment and evolving with how audiences choose to watch,» Disney Entertainment Co-Chairmen Alan Bergman and Dana Walden and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in the statement. «It recognizes the tremendous value of Disney’s programming and provides YouTube TV subscribers with more flexibility and choice. We are pleased that our networks have been restored in time for fans to enjoy the many great programming options this weekend, including college football.»

Disney-owned channels were pulled on Oct. 30 when the agreement between the two companies expired.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the resulting 25-day blackout was the longest in recent memory for Disney.

Here’s a full list of the channels that were removed due to the dispute: