Chart: The Price of Entertainment Subscription Services

The Price of Entertainment Subscription Services

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Subscription models have become ubiquitous in the entertainment sector, providing a recurring stream of revenue to a host of platforms.

While inattentive customers using subscription models can increase revenue by as much as 200%, many entertainment platforms struggle to make a profit. In fact, Netflix and Disney are the only two profitable streaming services in the market.

This graphic shows the cost of entertainment subscription services, based on data compiled by Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research and the providers of entertainment subscriptions.

Comparing Monthly Entertainment Subscription Costs

Here are the monthly subscription cost of various entertainment platforms as of April 2024:

Prices represent standard individual plans with no ads excluding promotional periods/prices less than two months. YouTube Premium Video subscription includes YouTube Music which can be purchased seperately.

As we can see, the price of major music subscription services remains lower than many other forms of entertainment—with standard subscriptions costing 35% lower than Netflix in America.

Since late 2022, several music streaming platforms including Spotify, Apple, and YouTube, have increased their subscription price, marking the first increase in more than 10 years. In June, Spotify raised its price again, charging $11.99 per month for an individual plan.

Across video platforms, Amazon Prime Video makes up the largest share of the U.S. video-on-demand market, at 22% as of Q1 2024. Netflix falls closely behind, with a 21% share. Over the last two years, Netflix’s revenue has jumped following a password-sharing crackdown, integrating ads, and slowing content expenditures.

Often, streaming services add content to replace lost customers. This is because viewers will switch to providers that offer the shows they want to watch. Due to this churn, streaming providers lose on average 35% of their customers each year. To combat this, some providers are bundling content offerings to retain their customer base, such as Disney+, Hulu, and Max or Paramount+ and Showtime.

As an outlier from the pack, Sling TV offers live TV and sports broadcasting along with on-demand movies and shows, charging $40 per month.

When it comes to news subscriptions, major outlets charge among the highest in the dataset. With a monthly subscription price of $25 after the first six months, The New York Times has 9.7 million digital-only subscribers, roughly three times as many as The Wall Street Journal. These subscriptions are the biggest source of revenue for the publication, rising by more than eightfold over the last decade.