I manage a Spotify Family subscription while keeping a chart of a price per subscription member (assuming there are alwas 6 members). This is because Spotify bills in EUR while my local currency is CZK, thus a conversion takes place and the price fluctuates. On August 1st 2023, Spotify has emailed me they will start charging in CZK and therefore my data-collection becomes pointless.
The data
DISCLAIMER: I am not knowledgable about FX in any way. The way I interpret the data can be utterly wrong / outright idiotic!
Average price of subscriptuon per member, X axis - time, Y axis - price in CZK
The measurements started Feb 2020 and continued up until Aug 2023 - a solid 3.5 years of data. We can clearly see a sudden price hike between March and April 2021. This is when the family group experienced the first price adjustment - originally announced on February 1st 2021 - from 8.99 EUR to 9.99 EUR.
After that we may see a downward trend with some fluctuations (could be related to the Feb 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine). The downwards trend can be explained by some active strengthening of the CZK by the CNB.
It is interesting to see that the price hike introduced by Spotify was "nullified" by 2 years of the currency growing stronger in comparison to EUR.
Bitter aftertaste?
The new price is 269CZK. Meaning the price for one person will rise to 44.8 CZK, effectively compensating for the strengthening of the CZK, almost excatly. This was for sure a calculated move, since the CZK seems to have stabilized / grow weaker.
So... What now? I will still manage the subscription, that is certain. However, due to the lack of currency exchange, there will be no interesing data... only a flat line with occasional bumps...