Changelog
What changes at the services – and what we adjusted in the comparison as a result. Every entry is dated and backed by a source.
2026
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Prices in the comparison updated
Following this summer’s price increases we re-checked every plan: Apple Music, TIDAL, YouTube Music and Qobuz now show current prices, and missing duo, family and student plans for Deezer, YouTube Music and Qobuz have been added.
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Napster removed from the comparison
Since Napster no longer offers licensed music, we now compare eight instead of nine services. The finder, tables and head-to-head comparisons have been updated accordingly.
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TIDAL raises prices in Europe
The individual plan rises from €10.99 to €12.99, the family plan from €16.99 to €21.99. The DJ extension stays at €9. Existing subscribers pay from their first billing date after 3 August.
Source: basic-tutorials.com -
Qobuz introduces synced lyrics
With the redesigned player, the Qobuz apps for iOS and Android now show lyrics line by line in real time, including translations. Available to all subscribers at no extra cost.
Source: www.qobuz.com -
Apple Music gets more expensive
The individual plan now costs €11.99 instead of €10.99, the family plan €19.99 instead of €16.99, and students pay €6.99 instead of €5.99. The annual plan rises from €109 to €119. Apple cites rising licensing costs; Apple One is unchanged.
Source: www.heise.de -
YouTube Music Premium and YouTube Premium get more expensive
YouTube Music Premium rises from €10.99 to €11.99, family from €16.99 to €18.99, students from €5.49 to €5.99. YouTube Premium with ad-free videos now costs €14.99 instead of €12.99. It is the first increase in Germany since 2023.
Source: www.computerbase.de -
Napster ends classic music streaming
Following its acquisition by Infinite Reality and the end of licensing deals with the major labels, Napster no longer offers a regular music catalogue but AI-generated content instead. Existing subscriptions via partners such as o2 were cancelled.
Source: www.teltarif.de
2025
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Qobuz raises the price of Studio Solo
The Studio Solo individual plan now costs €15.99 a month instead of €14.99. Duo and family plans are unchanged. Qobuz points to its growing catalogue and new features such as Qobuz Connect.
Source: hifi.de -
Spotify Premium goes lossless
Spotify launches lossless streaming at up to 24-bit/44.1 kHz (FLAC) at no extra cost for Premium – Germany is among the first markets.
Source: newsroom.spotify.com -
Apple Music: AutoMix and lyrics translation
With iOS 26, Apple Music gains AutoMix, which blends songs DJ-style using beat matching, plus translations and pronunciation guides for lyrics.
Source: www.apple.com -
Spotify raises prices to €12.99
Premium Individual rises from €10.99 to €12.99, Duo from €14.99 to €17.99, Family from €17.99 to €21.99, Student from €5.99 to €6.99. Existing customers can switch to cheaper Basic plans without audiobook hours.
Source: www.notebookcheck.com -
Spotify: “Audiobooks+” add-on
Premium subscribers can add an audiobook package with 15 extra hours per month on top of the included hours.
Source: newsroom.spotify.com -
Amazon Music Unlimited: one Audible audiobook per month
Subscribers in Germany can listen to one audiobook from the Audible premium catalogue every month, regardless of length. On family plans this applies to the main account holder.
Source: www.aboutamazon.de -
Deezer labels AI-generated music
Deezer becomes the first streaming service to visibly label albums containing fully AI-generated tracks in its app. Detection covers music from common generators such as Suno and Udio; such tracks are also kept out of recommendations.
Source: newsroom-deezer.com -
Qobuz Connect launches
As with Tidal Connect, the network streamer fetches the music directly while the app acts as a remote. More than 50 hi-fi brands supported it at launch, over 100 by the end of 2025.
Source: community.qobuz.com -
Audiobooks in Spotify Premium for Germany
Premium subscribers in Germany get 12 hours of audiobook listening per month from a catalogue of around 350,000 titles.
Source: newsroom.spotify.com
2024
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TIDAL removes MQA and 360 Reality Audio
All MQA tracks were replaced with the best available FLAC version. Since then TIDAL relies solely on the open FLAC standard up to 24-bit/192 kHz, plus Dolby Atmos.
Source: support.tidal.com -
TIDAL: hi-res at no extra cost
TIDAL merges HiFi and HiFi Plus into a single plan. Hi-res and Dolby Atmos have since cost €10.99 instead of the previous €19.99 for HiFi Plus.
Source: darko.audio -
Spotify: royalties only from 1,000 streams
A track must reach at least 1,000 streams and a minimum number of unique listeners in the past twelve months to earn royalties. Noise tracks must be at least two minutes long and are paid at a much lower rate.
Source: www.musicbusinessworldwide.com
2023
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Deezer raises prices for the first time in ten years
Premium rises from €9.99 to €10.99 and the family plan from €14.99 to €16.99, effective from the first billing period after 24 October.
Source: alternativeto.net -
Spotify raises prices to €10.99
Premium Individual rises from €9.99 to €10.99, Duo from €12.99 to €14.99, Family from €14.99 to €17.99, Student from €4.99 to €5.99. Existing customers pay the new prices from January 2024.
Source: www.appgefahren.de -
Amazon Music Unlimited gets pricier for Prime members
Prime members pay €9.99 instead of €8.99 a month, or €99 instead of €89 a year. Amazon cites significantly higher personnel, infrastructure and licensing costs.
Source: www.techbook.de -
Deezer announces its Artist-Centric Payment System
Together with Universal Music, Deezer presents a payout model that gives more weight to actively searched-for artists and devalues bot streams and noise. It launches in France in Q4 2023, with more markets to follow.
Source: www.euronews.com -
Apple Music Classical launches
The standalone classical app is included in Apple Music at no extra cost: more than five million tracks, search by composer, work, conductor or catalogue number, and hi-res up to 24-bit/192 kHz.
Source: www.digitalmusicnews.com -
Amazon Music Unlimited: higher prices without Prime
Without Prime, the individual plan costs €10.99 instead of €9.99, the family plan €16.99 instead of €14.99, and students pay €5.99 instead of €4.99.
Source: www.techbook.de