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

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Friday, Aug. 8

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for Aug. 8

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.

Today’s Mini Crossword might make you hungry. I think I need to put a summer barbecue on my calendar now. The puzzle wasn’t terribly tough, but I did mess up on 8-Across for a while, which took me some time to sort out. It was kind of fun that the first three across clues all helped build a summer classic meal. Need help with the clues and answers? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in The Times’ games collection. 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: Piece of bread atop 4-Across
Answer: BUN

4A clue: Yellow square atop 7-Across
Answer: CHEESE

7A clue: Offering at a summer cookout
Answer: BURGER

8A clue: Envelop and obscure
Answer: SHROUD

9A clue: Covers a tree in bathroom rolls, in a classic prank
Answer: TPS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Brought about
Answer: BEGOT

2D clue: Fully deplete
Answer: USEUP

3D clue: Jocks’ counterparts, stereotypically
Answer: NERDS

4D clue: «Survivor» network
Answer: CBS

5D clue: «What’d you say?»
Answer: HUH

6D clue: Make a mistake
Answer: ERR

Technologies

The Tesla Cybertruck May Have Found Its True Calling: Target Practice

The US Air Force plans to launch missiles at the controversial truck. Can we watch?

Technologies

Out of Nowhere: UFO 50 Hits Switch 2 After Indie World Reveal

No release date, no buildup, just a straight-up launch on the Switch.

Nintendo held an Indie World Showcase on Thursday to spotlight some of the indie games coming to the Switch platform. One of the surprise indie hits from last year is making the jump from PC to the Switch 2, and it’s available right now.

UFO 50, one of CNET’s best games of 2024, was the surprise from Nintendo’s Indie World Showcase Thursday, and had the additional surprise of launching after the event. It’s available to play on the Switch or the Switch 2 and costs $25.

From Mossmouth, UFO 50 is a unique indie title as it consists of 50 games done in a retro 8-bit style. These games come in a variety of genres, from platformers to shooters to RPGs. It’s a wide variety of games made by different independent developers.

While the collection of games in UFO 50 looks like something released on the NES back in the ’80s, the games have a modern feel. Some games are intended to be played solo, while others are meant to be played with others. The selection does feel random, but they’re connected by the story of a fictional game studio, UFOSoft, that created these 50 games that it never released.

Along with UFO 50, more than a dozen indie games were revealed during the showcase, including:

Is This Seat Taken?
Little Kitty, Big City
Content Warning
Ball X Pit
Ultimate Sheep Raccoon
Glaciered
Winter Burrow
Undusted: Letters from the Past
Tiny Bookshop
Caves of Qud
Strange Antiquities
Opus: Prism Peak
Go-Go Town!
Mina the Hollower
Well Dweller
Neverway
Herdling

Some games are set to come out in the coming weeks, while others will arrive in 2026.

You can buy UFO 50 for the Switch or the Switch 2 via My Nintendo Store online or the Nintendo eShop on the consoles for $25. Those who want a physical copy of the game can preorder one from Fangamer for $35.