With its video plan, TV+, Apple will continue to offer a lower price than companies like Netflix Inc. or Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., but that service has been slow to build as big a following as rival platforms. The price of Apple TV+ will climb to $6.99 from $4.99, and the standard Apple One bundle increases $2 to $16.95.
Apple’s push into streaming in recent years is part of a broader effort to generate more revenue from services. That category now generates nearly a quarter of the company’s sales—almost $20 billion in the June quarter—up from less than 10% in 2015. Apple is set to give its latest quarterly results this week.
The company said in a statement that the music price hike was due to “an increase in licensing costs” and that artists and songwriters will now earn more money. That came as good news for investors in Warner Music Group Corp., a top recording company, which sent the shares up as much as 15% on Monday.
Apple is also hiking its annual music plan to $109 from $99 and its TV+ yearly subscription to $69 from $49. Apple One bundles for families are going to $22.95 from $19.95, while the Premier package, which adds News+, Fitness+ and additional storage on top of Arcade, Music and TV+, is climbing $3 to $32.95.
Apple shares rose less than 1% to $148.56 on Monday. Though the stock is down 16% this year, that’s less of a rout than the broader indexes have suffered. The S&P 500 Index has fallen more than 20%.
In explaining the TV+ increase, Apple said that service was introduced “at a very low price” because it started with just a few shows and movies. It’s now “home to an extensive selection of award-winning and broadly acclaimed series, feature films, documentaries, and kids and family entertainment from the world’s most creative storytellers,” Apple said.