Last fall, Hulu and Spotify teamed up to offer students a bundle including both of their services for a discounted price, compared with paying for each subscription separately. Today, the companies are announcing a similar discounted bundle will be available to all users. Spotify’s 71 million-plus existing Premium users will get the first shot at upgrading to the bundled subscription. Instead of paying $9.99 per month for a paid subscription to Spotify’s on-demand music service, they can choose to pay $12.99 per month for a combination of Spotify Premium and Hulu’s Limited Commercials plan.
Later this summer, the bundled subscription will become available to all of Spotify’s U.S.-based users as well as any other potential newcomers to the two services.
Starting today, Spotify Premium users will be given the option to trial the bundled subscription through a promotion that offers Hulu for 99 cents for a three-month period.
On its own, Hulu’s Limited Commercials plan is $7.99, so this is a significant savings. Even when the price increases to the full $12.99 per month, it’s far less than paying for both on their own.
The bundled subscriptions are not any different from the existing paid subscriptions offered today. That means Spotify Premium users will have access to on-demand music and personalized playlists and mixes, while also gaining access to Hulu’s on-demand video library of over 75,000 TV shows and movies, like “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Looming Towers,” and Marvel’s “Runaways.”
By combining forces with Hulu, Spotify is able to offer its subscribers access to video – something it tried to tack on before through its own original video efforts, which largely flopped and were later scaled back. But video will soon be critical for Spotify, given Apple’s forthcoming plans for a TV subscription service that’s filled with high-quality original video. That service, rumors suggest, will be sold as part of an Apple Music subscription or even ship with iOS.
Spotify also has to compete with Prime Music, a perk for Prime members which includes access to over 2 million on-demand songs. Along with their annual subscription, Amazon Prime members also have access to on-demand video and can upgrade to a more Spotify-like service – Amazon Music Unlimited – for $2 less than a Spotify Premium subscription.
Meanwhile, both Spotify and Hulu will benefit from the influx of new subscribers who couldn’t before afford their services separately. The hope is the low price will lure people in, then they’ll become too addicted to cancel.
They’ll be a revenue sharing agreement in place, as before with the student offering. But clearly these margins are much slimmer than the traditional packages offered by the streaming providers.
“Based on the outstanding performance of the Spotify and Hulu student package, it’s clear that consumers love to combine their music and television experiences together,” said Tim Connolly, SVP, Head of Distribution and Partnerships at Hulu, in a statement. “Hulu and Spotify are brands that are defining how fans connect with entertainment in the future, and we are excited to expand our partnership to bring this combined package to all existing and new Spotify Premium subscribers.”
“Our student launch with Hulu was incredibly well received and we are excited to extend our reach by bringing Hulu to more of our Premium members in the US,” added Alex Norstrom, Chief Premium Business Officer at Spotify. “Hulu’s TV content is highly acclaimed, and with this exclusive Spotify offer we are bundling two top media platforms for an unbeatable price. This is just one example of how we can add value to our premium members day after day.”
More information about how to sign up for the bundle is available here on Spotify’s website.
Correction: An earlier version of the article implied the bundle would roll out worldwide; it is US-only, like Hulu.
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