Spotify is getting more attention in the news for its seemingly scheduled price hikes. The company is bringing back a direct messaging feature days after introducing custom transitions in the Spotify app. These feature additions seem to fully justify the price hikes, according to the company.
Spotify’s “Messages” tool is a resurgence of the private messaging system the company removed in early 2017. That system allowed users to communicate in-app by sending recommendations and text to others through the desktop app. According to the company, the feature is being released as a new tool to let users do the exact same thing that they could nearly a decade ago.
At the time, the company claimed that the feature required too much manpower to operate, and it was eventually removed from the app altogether. The support entry has since been removed.
Now, it seems that Spotify has found the resources to revitalize the direct messaging system, with the ability to send emojis, tracks or playlists, and text. DMs will also be accessible through the side menu and prominently visible.
Surprisingly, it will be available for free and premium users.
This comes as Spotify recently increased prices around the globe to match costs in the US, after increasing the price at around the same time it did the year before. The price in the US hasn’t increased in some time, but these feature additions indicate that they aren’t unexpected.
That’s compounded by the response Spotify’s co-president gave to The Financial Times, noting that the price increases just “make sense.”
Price increases and price adjustments and so on, that’s part of our business toolbox and we’ll do it when it makes sense
Alex Norstrom, Co-President
The response was followed by an expectation that users would continue switching to Spotify even as prices increased and that the company would keep adding features and, in turn, value for customers.
The public response may have reached the company, considering the returning DM feature will be part of the free subscription, as well as paid. Still, the company will need to add useful features for customers as it seems to regularly add cost to its subscription model.
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